Tuesday, December 30, 2014

The Art of Hearing Creatively


Average human “looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling,
eats without tasting, moves without physical awareness,
inhales without awareness of odour or fragrance, and talks without thinking
(Leonardo da Vinci)

We love to talk and are often too busy thinking about what we’re going to say next, or too desperate to get our own voices heard. We forget to stop and listen to what the other person is saying. Basically, in general, we lost the art of listening to God, to our inner voices, to one another, to nature and everything around us. We “listens without hearing.” Therefore, to unleash our creativity, we need to learn to listen and really hearing what’s being said, taking it in, paying attention and thinking about it. Ideas is all around us.

Wily W.Walnut, creative coach, writes, “If you can learn to really listen to the sounds of people's voices, the way in which they say things, you will deduce things that others miss.” In the same way, like people’s voices, if we listen carefully to the music that we adore, nature and sounds around us, we may hear things that people might often ignored. When we listen, we open doors for many ideas to flow. The practise of listening will gives birth to some potential avenues for ideas interaction and for the development of new ideas. Listening, I think, is the cornerstone of creative activity.

Do you know how I come out with ideas and motivations to write this blog? One of it is through listening. Literally, I listen to audiobooks or audio talks every day. I listen to music, stories, sermons, talks, seminars and conferences such as Talks at Google, TED Talks, The RSA, Big Think, Ideas at The House, etc. Sometime I simply ‘steals’ people’s ideas during conversations, modified it and come out with new and better ideas.  “I like to listen,” explained Ernest Hemingway, “I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” Maybe you can try these “hearing” exercises to increase your creativity. Remember, ideas is all around you.

§  First, detox your hearing! Turn off or go off from your gadgets and just breathe. Be silent. Refresh your ears every day.
§  Pause in the midst of your daily life and just listen. Just become aware of all the different sounds that you can hear. Sort through the sound and identify as many unique sounds as you can.
§  Really sit down with headphones and listen to your favourite audio lessons or songs. For example, if you hear a song, don't sing along. Just listen. Try to hear the sounds in the track as purely as possible. Let them be. Let them emerge as they wish to and you just follow along.
§  Expand your musical tastes. Varied your music genre. Try to enjoy Beethoven and Jason Mraz.
§  Go online. Download free audiobooks, sermons, and talks and plug your earphone. Listen and learn.
§  Buy yourself a cup of coffee or peanuts and listen to people talking and chatting. You can do this in the mall, public park, sidewalk or on the street. And if you dare, you may want to spark a conversation with strangers. Listen to what they say.
§  Go out into nature. Listen. Let it teach you.

Listen and really hearing. Idea is all around you.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

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