Jan 07 2009
Did you hear that?
As I lay beside my daughter in bed, I focus on the sounds around us. The hum of the light, the pops of the heating vent, the long scrapes of my neighbour shoveling, the pillowcase material under my ear when I change positions and I can even hear my dogs low groans as she finds a spot to relax.
Today, I caught the end of the HBO documentary, “Hear and Now” about a deaf couple in their sixties, who decided to get cochlear ear implants. Could the implants help them hear perfectly for the first time in their lives?
One of the things that struck me as I watched, was how the woman was totally overwhelmed with all the various noises she could hear at the same time. Not knowing how to tune out some of the sounds of everyday life, both spouses would turn off the implants to escape back into silence.
For me, hearing is something so automatic that I take little time to really listen to all the many sounds around me at one given moment. Stop. What do you hear?
More about the documentary: http://articles.latimes.com/2007/aug/19/entertainment/ca-hear19
