2024 is the first in a very long time since I spent an entire year in Japan. I am extremely grateful for the support I have received from my family, friends, supporters and listeners this year.
I don’t often write down let alone publicly announce new year resolutions, but there has been something that has always been on my mind this year, that I want to continue into 2025 with this mindset.
My goal for 2025 is to “listen”.
Several years ago, I attended an event at the U.N., in which we were asked “what is peace to you?” We had to write these down on bits of paper and submit them. After thinking about it for a few minutes, I wrote:
“Peace is to listen.”
For some reason I kept thinking about this statement a lot this past year. How I mean to represent it, and what I want others to take from it.
I once had a chamber music coach talk to me about the difference between hearing and listening: that the former is passive, but with listening you need to be active - you have to use your entire body. Those words have shaped my understanding of the concept of listening, which extends far beyond music and sounds.
Listening is being in tune with yourself, your needs and your powers.
Listening is knowing when you need to pull yourself back once you realize you’ve been lost in the noise.
Listening is making sure no one else around you is being drowned out and getting left behind.
Listening is giving your undivided attention to those that deserve to be heard.
Listening is understanding that there are many sizes and shapes to a voice, and that there is more than one way for communication.
Sometimes I reflect back on hard times of the year, whether they are major conflicts in society or just things that directly concern myself, and wonder if things could be just a little more different, better even, if we knew how to “listen” more. One reason for this challenge: there are just simply too many unheard voices. It already takes a tremendous amount of effort to make ourselves feel heard, that it is so easy for us to lose the attention or energy to allow other thoughts or voices to come through - even from within ourselves. With the wide variety of outlets for communication we have in this time and age, this will always continue to be a bigger challenge than before.
There are definitely so many voices and information out there that we are all unaware of no matter how hard we pay attention. It is impossible to be a listener of absolutely everything. However, I still believe it to be possible that, if we could just listen to both ourselves and each other just a little more, then the world can be a slightly better place. That we are still aware of voices that we cannot immediately reach or engage with directly, and to show that we are ready to receive them. That we can look deeper into the dissonance with more clarity, and discover how valuable each and every voice is to our unique harmony in this world.
Thank you again to all that has made 2024 just a little better for everyone. I hope to strive to become a better listener in 2025 - both as a human being and as a musician.
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