LIBRARY

Our time to listen

I have an admission to make. During my escapes from isolation, those many outings we have enjoyed over the past weeks where we get to see other people, I have rediscovered listening! I have recaptured the delight of being read to.  I have found that audio books are a great distraction and an irresistible persuasion to happily extend my walk so that I can complete the chapter.  I have discovered that with air pods in, my least favourite chores at home are completed in no time at all.  Listening to a book, is an entirely different experience to reading a book yourself. When you listen, you hear every word!  You savour every word!  You are compelled to pause and enjoy particular details of the story that enhance the tale.  There is no rushing to get to the next page, to discover the next plot twist. I have decided that audiobooks fit perfectly with our newly enforced, slower-paced existence, and I intend to continue to indulge. Two of my holiday favourites are  “The Invention of Hugo Cabret”, by Brian Selznick, a revisiting for me,  and “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, a book I had not read before.  If you are at all tempted to try listening as you walk, run or even iron, and my favourites don’t appeal to you, there are over 800 audiobooks in our collection. I encourage you to try one, or better still, share one.

Tuning in

Am I going to sound indiscriminate if I say that I have become addicted to podcasts? When it is difficult, no, almost impossible to avoid another COVID-19 update on TV or social media, I have taken control and downloaded the ABC LISTEN app.  True, there is ‘Coronacast’ with Norman Swan, but I can choose to ignore it, and I can listen to the latest 5-minute news update anytime I want to by clicking on the ‘latest News Bulletin’ tab.  So far I have enjoyed the Unravel Crime series; ‘The Eleventh’ a dramatisation of the Whitlam dismissal, and have binged on an audio fiction from inner Melbourne called ‘Fitzroy Diaries’, but mostly I enjoy the unexpected, quirky snippets that I stumble upon.  Like: your nose is the best biosensor on the face of the Earth, (Counterpoint), how to safely clean your phone in the time of COVID-19 (Download this Show), journey in your mind to a major city somewhere in the world (Lost and Found), or learn the science behind choosing players when building your fantasy football team (Ockham’s Razor)?  Totally diverting.

Perfecting the skill

In this busy, noisy world, listening is even more paramount, because the things that shout the loudest are not always the most important.  Listening is a much neglected skill when speaking out is so highly valued, yet the cost of not listening is enormous.   While listening can be diverting, entertaining and informative it is the listening we do to each other that is the most vital.  Are you busy thinking about what you want to say while others are talking? How good at listening are you?  Take the quiz. Oscar Trimboli, author of Deep Listening - Impact Beyond Words stresses that there is only an 11% chance that the first thing we say is what we mean (ABC RN This working Life) so if you don’t give people the chance to elaborate, then you are missing the most important part of their message.  One of the great benefits of the quieter life we are living at the moment is that we have time, we have time to really listen to each other. If you want to know more check out the podcast.

Sue Graffen | Teacher Librarian