This blog’s genesis does coincide with the new year. It is not a new year’s resolution kind of blog, though. Rather, it’s an odd and roundabout way of dealing with an issue — that of learning to listen. Not hearing, mind you; my ears work fine. But actually listening.
You see, there have been some things happening to me recently that have been impacted on by my listening abilities (or, occasionally, lack thereof). So, when a record player came into my life this Christmas I thought I might use that as an opportunity to start to try and listen again.
As any of you who know records will know, this isn’t just a spur of the moment Spotify play list kind of listening. Analogue gives little away by means of instant gratification. Rather, you’ve got to commit, focus, and pay attention. And maybe those are skills I need more of in my life.
So, we’ll see where this gets us. Like I said in the about section, what I’m writing here isn’t going to make hardened audiophiles weak at the knees. But, for me, this isn’t all about Mission speakers and vacuum tube amps. It’s about taking the time to stop and listen and think.
Who knows. Maybe I’ll actually learn something doing this that’ll have some relevancy in other, less blog-worthy, parts of my life. Are you going to listen along with me?
Learning to Listen 