Deep Listening is listening in every possible way to everything possible to hear no matter what you are doing. Such intense listening includes the sounds of daily life, of nature, or one's own thoughts as well as musical sounds. Deep Listening represents a heightened state of awareness and connects to all that there is. As a composer I make my music through Deep Listening
Interpretation
Deep Listening emphasizes being fully aware of all sounds and experiences around you, enhancing creativity and connection.
The quote by Pauline Oliveros highlights the importance of listening deeply and attentively to the world around us. It suggests that true listening goes beyond merely hearing; it involves an active engagement with our environment, thoughts, and the subtle nuances of sound. This heightened awareness can enhance creativity, musical composition, and connection to the broader universe.
In practice
In a workshop on mindfulness, one might open with this quote to discuss the importance of awareness.
Deep Listening is listening to everything all the time, and reminding yourself when you're not. But going below the surface too, it's an active process. It's not passive. I mean hearing is passive in that soundwaves hinge upon the eardrum. You can do both. You can focus and be receptive to your surroundings. If you're tuned out, then you're not in contact with your surroundings. You have to process what you hear. Hearing and listening are not the same thing.
If I create with my heart almost all my intentions remain. If it is with the head - almost nothing. An artist must not fear to be himself, to express only himself. If he is absolutely and entirely sincere, what he says and does will be acceptable to others.
Negatives are the notebooks, the jottings, the false starts, the whims, the poor drafts, and the good draft but never the completed version of the work The print and a proper one is the only completed photograph, whether it is specifically shaded for reproduction, or for a museum wall.
The heaviest impact of the work of art is in the guts. Art does not reason. It manhandles you and changes you.
If you want to find out what a writer or a cartoonist really feels, look at his work. That's enough.
Never hesitate to imitate another writer. Imitation is part of the creative process for anyone learning an art or a craft. Bach and Picasso didn't spring full-blown as Bach or Picasso; they needed models. This is especially true of writing.
How many shows on TV do you see young black people, both women and men, really embody a full-fledged human being, flaws and all?
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