Listening: The Key to Connectedness
For most humans, sound is an inescapable component of life. Every action, every moment inevitably produces at least some degree of noise. With this constant presence of sounds, we find it easy and even natural to ignore them. After all, we hear them every day, so why should we place importance on these commonplace pieces of our daily lives? Perhaps, the answer is revealed in the question itself: we simply hear sounds, we find it difficult to truly listen to them. The two words may at first seem synonymous, however, there are important differences. Hearing requires no effort; it is a passive action that leads to no further understanding of what is being expressed. On the other hand, listening demands concentration
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Even so, I still carried my own doubts and uncertainties on the significant personal benefits of listening before this exercise. Why is listening important? What can we actually learn from listening to the sounds in our environment? I pondered these questions as I sat in a chair on the lawn in front of Shadek-Fackenthal Library, and after 15 minutes of simply listening, some clarity emerged to offer answers to them. From my experience, the act of listening to the sounds in our environment fosters a deep and meaningful connectedness to the natural world, society as a whole, and our own selves.
Each noise that I observed during the exercise contributed to feelings of unity and integration with the natural environment and human society. As I rested outside under a large tree, the sounds of nature were most prominent. I acknowledged the sound of the leaves rustling overhead, starting with the movement of one branch, and then spreading until every leaf on the tree was waving in the breeze. Also, the songs of cicadas in the bushes attracted my attention, and I noticed the unique pitches that each insect
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Realizing the dependency that we have on the natural world, I experienced emotions of gratitude and humility towards the earth, and therefore, I felt a deep oneness with nature. Additionally, I noticed the sounds of other people around me during the exercise. These noises acted as reminders of my duty as a member of human society, while also fostering a feeling of solidarity with those around me because of our shared experiences as humans. Furthermore, while I began to feel more connected to the surrounding environment, I also grew increasingly aware of my own self in the moment. The act of listening enabled me to reflect on my own thoughts and emotions and provided a temporary escape from the excitement of daily life. The activity proved to be a fruitful experience, and while at first, I doubted the impact of listening to the ordinary sounds in my environment, I now have a deeper understanding of its true value. Therefore, as daily life constantly bombards us with various sounds, I will seek to not only hear them, but to actually listen to
Have you noticed that we feel a powerful desire to connect with nature during difficult times? Whether we are injured, depressed or sad our inclination towards nature increases. Patients in hospitals recover faster if they are in a room with a nice view. Why? Because nature is so pure and powerful that can restore our spirits and heal our bodies and minds. The beauty of nature has been praised in art, poetry, writings and films. Naturalists, poets and writers have documented the many benefits of spending time in nature. "Calypso Borealis" by Muir and "I wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by Wordsworth are two great pieces of literature where our hearts are filled with an indescribable emotion. John Muir and William Wordsworth express their relationship
Nature can keep its blissful purity untroubled in the moment, not convicted by what all society has brought into this world. Furthermore, many find nature as their safe place, the one place they can go too, and no one can interfere with their happiness. John Muir and William Wordsworth noticed the peaceful nature brought to their soul when traveling on their journey. Do not let your hands be weak, for you shall be rewarded.” – 2 Chronicles 15:7 John Muir and William Wordsworth both faced challenges to get to where they were going.
First, one must understand the distinction between hearing and listening. Hearing is simply the reception of sound waves by the ears. This may happen unconsciously, as is usually the case with soft background noise such as the whoosh of air through heating ducts or the distant murmur of an electric clothes dryer. Sometimes hearing is done semi-consciously; for instance, the roar of a piece of construction equipment might momentarily draw one's attention. Conscious hearing, or listening, involves a nearly full degree of mental concentration. A familiar i...
When looking at the natural world, one can clearly see an order in the occurrences within. Examples range from the 4 seasons, to the life cycle of every being, or even to the rising and setting of the sun on a daily basis, depending on your location in the world. With all of the orders comes a certain peace. We tend to seek out this peace after a bad day or a stressful week in the form of ‘Calming Sounds of Nature’. A half an hour of chirping birds, flowing streams, a gentle breeze across oats, or even the pitter patter of rain drops falling into the upper canopy of a rain forest.
Whenever I volunteer at The Grotto, I always find it enjoyable compared to volunteering at my high school due to the fact that the Grotto is surrounded by a great deal of wildlife, while on the other hand, volunteering at Centennial High seems to be bland because of it’s stuffy, enclosed, environment. Not only does nature relieve stress on the mind, but it also calms it too. For instance, when Williams writes, “Officers there report calmer behavior in solitary confinement prisoners who exercise for 40 minutes several days a week in a “blue room” where nature videos are playing, compared with those who exercise in a gym without videos” (58). This illustrates how simply seeing nature can affect the human mind, keeping some of the most aggressive, vicious, people calm. Whenever I get angry or frustrated, whether it be a game or homework, I like to go to the Lynch Wood park and lay there, listening to music.
The skill of listening according to Dr. Robert Bolton (1979) extends beyond simply hearing sound as a physiological sensory process but instead requires and involves interpreting and understanding the sensory experience or what is being heard (p 32). It also is an active experience wherein the listener is fully engaged and has absorbed the information of the speaker while showing interest and providing feedback all while demonstrating that they have heard and understand the message. It is a fair assertion that most people in varying relationships and environments listen in what is considered a passive capacity or only digesting and processing bits and pieces of the speaker’s message. This type of listening lends itself to frequent miscommunication, mixed messages and overall misunderstandings. Effective listening on the other hand provides concise communication, decreases interpersonal conflict and mistakes and also...
To further explicate this argument, it has been noted that listening, in addition to requi...
As a professional in today’s society, it is greatly important to be able to communicate effectively with other professionals, with clients, and with those that are encountered in daily living. In order to communicate in a proper manner, not only is talking and non-verbal communication, but a large aspect is the ability to listen. Listening is a vital task in order to build a relationship and find meaning in someone else’s words. In order to find this meaning one must follow the characteristics of active listening, face the challenges to listening, and reflect upon one’s own listening skills.
In applying the skills to a case scenario, I found it difficult to focus and use my active listening skills. I do know that in an ideal situation, I will more than likely be one on one with my client and will generally conduct the interview in a quieter atmosphere, allowing me to focus better on what the client discloses. However, with continuous practice I believe I will be able to overcome becoming distracted by background noises.
Music, a form of art, made up of unique and special sounds containing elements of pitch and rhythm can powerfully soothe one’s soul. Firstly, there are different types of music, and each has its own features. These sounds and features are what I admire in music because to me it creates a new form of communication to one’s consciousness. It stimulates our mind and gives it a sense of harmony and peace through the hardships that life poses for us. As a kid, I would always listen to music from any genre, deciding which genre would complement me the most as I grew older. In middle school, I remember going on the computer and finding a website/program where I could make my own beats. From that day on, I spent countless of hours each day making sure the tune sounded proper and pleasurable for my ears. At first, it wasn’t good, but eventua...
Let’s explore why listening is so critical. “Adam listened to Eve. In that first spoken word message and all since, no communication occurred until there was a listener. It follows, then, that there has become a much-heightened need to listen. We must understand the fundamental relationship involved, we cannot escape it” (Mills 1). The characteristics of good listening skills can be best understood by using the acronym MASTER. The “m” refers to mental. Mental is the ability to slow down and strategically control our ability to listen. “A” refers to active. Being active utilizes constructive listening responses and constant practice can keep this sharp. The “s” refers to sustaining attention. Experienced concentration is crucial for sustaining attention. “T” refers to target. There are four types of potential listening targets; responsive listening, implicative listening, critical listening and nondirective listening. Responsive listening is the agreement between listener and speaker. Implicative listening involves carefully understanding what is implied by hearing what is said. Critical listening is the process of coming to the point of a subject by clearing away all the non-important information. Nondirective listening is fully hearing the speaker out. The “e” refers to eliminating t...
There is a big difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is a physical ability that the ears receive feelings and transmit them to the brain while listening is a skill. Listening skills allow one to make sense of what another person is saying. In other words, listening skills let you to understand what someone is "talking about”. It requires concentration so that your brain processes meaning from words and sentences.
Listening is one of the most powerful tools of communication and is a process that is used to receive, convey a meaning, and respond to both verbal and nonverbal messages. It is what we choose to do and it requires more work than speaking. Oftentimes, people simply misunderstand the difference between listening and hearing. Hearing is a passive process that takes in sounds and noises and listening is what you choose to do. This selective process includes 5 phases that can be acquired for us to become effective listeners in the future. The 5 phases are attending, understanding, remembering, critically evaluating (listening), and responding. Once the 5 different areas are understood, we will become aware of what needs to change and how we can change them. This will also allow us to improve our listening skills in the workplace, school, at home, etc.
A skill, according the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, is a learned power of doing something competently: a developed aptitude or ability. The skill of listening is a skill that I believe everyone should have but most people lack. Many people do not realize that listening is not merely the act of hearing a sound but of paying close attention to what someone is saying and trying to understand the message that they are trying to relate to you. Most times people say they are listening when in all actuality they are merely hearing you but not even attempting to understand what is being spoken of. The advantages of being a good listener are vast. This skill can positively affect many parts of our everyday life and interaction with people. Nevertheless, it is a skilled that is overlooked in today’s unmindful society. The reason I believe that listening is of such importance is because nowadays people have developed the mentality of “every man for himself.” People are not concerned about their fellows anymore. We are only concerned about our own issues and problems. Listening is a skill that is acquired throughout a lifetime. It is an important virtue when it comes to communication.People should be taught from childhood the importance of learning how to listen. If we realized how much we would benefit from being good listeners, I believe that things would change. Lack of listening skills affects marriages, parents and children, teachers and students, employers and employees, foreign affairs, and the list goes on.
Listening is hearing someone’s state of mind and thoughts. One listens to another person and acknowledges that they are