Are you listening?
What are you hearing?
Do you have favorite sounds?
Here are a few we probably all share:
birdsong on a cool spring morning
laughter – especially that of children
a gentle breeze rustling the leaves in the trees
water running over rocks in a stream
ocean waves
There are also sounds that some like and others do not:
the roar of an engine
barking dogs
cicadas
crickets
a creaking door
There are also sounds none of us wants to hear
but I will not list those here.
. . . . . . .
We have learned to organize sound.
We call it music.
It is ingenious.
Strategic placement of pitches, rhythms, durations
singly and together
the careful choreography of
clashes and clangs
clanks and crashes
to create a combustible cacophony.
It is music.
The bringing together of sounds
to produce something startling
to pluck at our emotions.
It can lift us up or bring us down,
make us happy or sad
or scared or angry
or give us a headache
or soothe and calm us.
Music is powerful.
The compiled and curated sounds
confirm our existence.
The resonation reaffirms our reality.
Right now.
What are you hearing?
Are you listening?