Hearing and the Mind's Eye

I like to wear a headset when I walk and listen to the radio. Sometimes music, sometimes interviews or intelligent conversations or books on tape (yes, I am still using the old school walkman, not an ipod).

This can at times produce a very pleasant surprise. Tonight, for example, I just happened onto an interview with a farmer who harvests maple syrup in the northeast. Listening to him describe it, I could picture the whole scene in my mind's eye. At the same time, I was watching the moon as clouds floated past and obscured, then revealed it for a while.

A little later, I heard an interview with a science fiction writer, and another evening an interview with a paranormal researcher. You have to just skip around a bit to happen onto these things. Listening to a book on tape is all about learning to listen and picturing the story in your mind as you follow along.

The ancient technology of storytelling is still alive and well, and when a story is well told, it is an engaging experience that rewards the listener with a stimulated imagination. And there is a lot of power within the imagination. In fact, you can substitute that word for other terms like guided meditation, or visualization or trance and you can see what kind of doorways it can open.