Do you hear what I hear?

Being able to hear is something many of us, myself included, take for granted and we often forget that there is an entire community of people who live with hearing impairments or unable to hear at all. These people have a very different perception of the world and an extremely intelligent way of communicating. I do not personally know anyone who is deaf, but I have met a few people who work passionately with deaf people in their community and I think it is fascinating to be able to live and work without sound. In our education courses on special needs and moderate disabilities, we have touched upon the learning needs of students with hearing impairments and it has really gotten me to rethink how I approach language. At the same time, it has made me really appreciate my abilities to hear.

Just being able to talk and verbalize my opinions, wants, needs, questions, etc is such a remarkable skill. Human beings throughout history began to develop communities and societies based around common languages and before ever learning how to write, passed down information via an oral tradition of storytelling. It is in our nature to communicate and for most of us that means using our hearing to listen. There are also so many sounds that are just so beautiful. Think about what it sounds like to hear a car driving slowly over gravel or small shells, or walking on tightly packed snow, or wooden floors on a boat or in a house creaking, the crackle of a fire, the coo of a baby, the pur of a kitten, the engine on a plane, the ding of a bell out at sea, or the chime of a clock. Just like smell, many of these can be tied to memory. In fact, that is why movies are so impacting; they use sound effects and soundtracks during scenes that they really want people to remember. Which brings me to another set of amazing sounds: music.

One of my all time favorite things to do is belt out a song and dance to it. Hearing certain beats or melodies or listening to really powerful lyrics strikes a chord (no pun intended) with many people. Whether it is a song from an popular artist or a drumbeat or classical song on the piano, so many people I know are very passionate about music. I think there is something inherently human about being moved by music; maybe it is not human, maybe it is deeper than that and we are picking up something subconsciously that other life recognizes. Either way, music is an integral part of life and being able to hear it and replicate it brings me a lot of happiness.

At one point in my life, when asked that incredibly hard question "if you had to live without one of your senses, which would you lose?," I would always pick hearing. After spending more time appreciating all those little sounds that really do make me feel good, that question has gotten even harder. So go out and listen to the world around you! Hear the birds, the bees, the trees, and people communicating. Practice some music or just appreciate that you can hear everything on TV. =)