Ear Buds

I am an auditory learner.
I truly remember everything I hear.
Perhaps that is why Whispers are so important to me.
I pay close attention to the sounds around me.

I am not always good at remembering names.
I wish I was better at that skill.
However, I do remember everything I have talked about in conversation with someone.
I remember all the details and minutia that others have long forgotten.

I remember a question my children asked me many years ago.
Mom, if you had to choose, would you rather be blind or deaf?
Neither, I said quickly, not realizing that a true answer was required.
You have to pick one, Mom, they persisted.

Since I love to hear things, I guess I would pick blindness, I answered to their surprise.
They were shocked at my answer and gave me all the reasons why blindness would be awful.
Both would be terribly hard, I told them, but you said I had to pick one.
I looked over at my younger son who smiled at me knowingly.

They asked him next.
He and I had the same answer.
I would miss hearing sounds, he said.
I couldn’t stand not hearing music, he continued.

Kindred spirits, he and I.
I would also miss hearing sounds.
I know every creak in our floorboards.
I know each of my children’s footsteps.

I have come late to the party.
I asked for ear buds this past Christmas.
I enjoy audio books and thought that ear buds might come in handy from time to time.
My husband bought them for me and suggested many ways I could use them.

You could wear them when you walk, he reminded me.
No, I like to hear the sounds around me and hear when a car is approaching, I said.
You can still hear all of that, he told me.
It’s not the same, I answered.

To me, it is really not the same.
Did you ever hear the silence when the power goes out?
Did you ever notice the quiet when the din of the refrigerator is not in the background?
Did you ever notice the symphony of sounds that is outside your front door?

I was cleaning the other morning and my husband was doing work in his office.
I am listening to The Hobbit after listening to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
I didn’t think he needed to hear about Bilbo and the dwarfs and the evil Smaug.
I decided to put my ear buds in as I cleaned.

It was a whole new world.
I listened to Bilbo’s adventures, loving again a book I had read long ago.
No one else heard what I heard.
My husband came into the room and said something to me.

He could not see the ear buds in my ears, hidden by my hair.
I pointed to my ears and he smiled.
For some reason the tap that should have turned them off, did not do the job.
I had to walk over to my phone to stop the story at a very exciting part.

I like my ear buds.
They will come in handy from time to time.
They are not for me all the time.
I miss the sounds around me too much.

I don’t think sound is to be experienced alone.
There is discernment needed to focus on one sound and tune out others.
Ear buds may do that for you to some degree.
Our own mind and wisdom can do it much better.

Therefore take care how you listen.  (Luke 8:18)

I am not against ear buds; I do not understand the need for people to wear them all the time.
When I removed them, my ears felt odd, almost as if I had to relearn listening to many things.
It was the like the sensation I used to get when I took off roller skates or ice skates.
My legs felt like they were still skating.

If ear buds are used to tune out everything around us, that is a problem.
Consider carefully how you listen.
There is a symphony of sounds ready to be heard right outside your front door.
Bask in the beautiful noise that often escapes our attention.