Hearing your Life
In Episode 9 of Artists for Joy Podcast, I shared a bit about a course on ear training I took during my master’s degree at Yale School of Music, called Hearing. It profoundly affected the way I analyze and hear music. There is this quote from one of my all- time favorite books, Parker Palmer’s “Let your life Speak.” It goes like this: ”Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am.” There it was again, this idea of listening, of hearing. When I got to the end of my education and found myself burnt out and lost, I wondered if I’d left my conservatory training with ears sensitive enough to identify seventh chords, and yet unconscious to the sounds of my own life telling me who I am.
Check out the episode to learn more, but in the meantime, you will find some of the questions mentioned in the show below. I believe that with the right questions, writing in a journal can feel like taking dictation. These questions are just one tool you can use as you seek to hear your inner voice. Therefore, use these questions however you wish: write the answers down somewhere, discuss them with friends and family, or simply ponder them on your own. Whatever you do with them, I hope they will inspire you to listen for your life to speak.
What did you say you wanted to be when you grew up?
What do you think was the essence of that job that attracted you to it as a kid?
What made you come alive when you were little? What makes you come alive now?
Which of your relatives’ stories speak to you the most? Why?
What is something you liked about your childhood self?
What would it be like to inhabit your life fully right now? To be present, even in the simple and mundane?
What gives you energy?
How do your responses to your circumstances reveal your values?
Who in your life calls you towards your truest self?
What are you most grateful for?
What sounds fun to you right now?
Like roots of a tree, how are you tending to your own grounding? What nutrients do you most need to gather now?
When you quiet the noise, who is your life telling you you are?
I always love hearing from listeners…email me at artistsforjoypod@gmail.com or call the voice mailbox at 302-415-3407.
