Listening

After watching the TED talk video on listening I was rather amazed at what little I may be listening to others around me.  The main message that the author of the video is trying to get across is that we have lost the ability to properly listen to sounds or other people around us.  Since the development of writing, audio and visual recording devices the importance of listening and properly retaining what is said has declined.  I completely agree with what the author is saying.  The amount of everyday noise, constant distractions around us, prove for it to be hard at times to clearly listen to what  is being said.  Personally, I find it hard to listen to my wife when the kids are running around, the dog is barking and the phone is ringing.  The listening exercises that I preformed where the silence technique out on my deck while having coffee and trying to pick out individual sounds in a noisy setting.  Sitting in silence or lack of noises also combined with picking out individual sounds.  Being outside where it is generally quiet provides a great venue for picking out individual sounds.  I must have heard six different birds, trucks in the distance, chainsaws, horns, squirrels etc.  I think just by taking a second or two to step outside when there is excessive noise around really helps to clear your head and make listening a lot easier to follow.