I was unaware of the difference between “Hearing” and “Listening” until I watched Pauline Oliveros’s TED Talk. Now, I believe “Hearing” is the conduct of the human ear, while “Listening” is the conduct of the human brain. Hearing can be purely physical and natural; Listening has everything to do with physical, mental, and experiential.

“The ear hears, the brain listens, the body senses vibrations.” I would like to add another sentence: “And my heart shivers.” During my different periods of life, the same vibration of soundwaves brought out various kinds of emotions, and each time, my heart shivered differently.

“Deep Listening” by Pauline Oliveros feels like a timeless meditation. It requires me to fully dedicate myself to the sound I am paying attention to. Starting from there, I will dig into my memories, my present, and my prediction of the future based on my life experience, finding the most harmonic parts and combining them. The outcome will be a brand-new emotion. Then, I will start this process from the beginning and get another emotion…