Abby

Pauline Oliveros – Deep Listening reflection

As someone who struggles with ADHD, I found Oliveros’s ideas about deep listening really interesting. It made me think about how I usually move through my daily life my attention is almost never focused on one thing. It’s always jumping around, getting pulled in every direction. Hearing her talk about listening as something that requires openness and presence made me realize that I’m not often listening with my full potential. I’m hearing, but not really listening. In the documentary, Oliveros talks about how sound can connect us to our surroundings and to each other. She treats listening almost like meditation, something that helps you slow down and really notice what’s happening in the moment. I liked how she described listening as something that happens through the whole body, not just the ears. In class, someone mentioned feeling bass vibrations through their feet or chest, and that reminded me that listening isn’t only about sound, it’s also a physical, embodied experience. I think if I tried listening with my whole body, like she describes, I might actually feel more grounded and connected instead of distracted all the time. It would be like giving myself permission to stop multitasking and just experience what’s around me.

Another thing that struck me from the discussion was how deeply Oliveros valued community and collaboration. She wasn’t focused on fame or recognition, she cared about shared experience. Listening, in that sense, becomes an act of empathy. Like when Michelle told a story about recording a cow’s heartbeat through a stethoscope microphone and how that experience created a powerful emotional connection to another living being. That kind of deep, embodied listening goes beyond art, it’s about understanding and relating to others on a sensory level.

Overall, Oliveros’s ideas made me reflect on how I give attention, not just to sound, but to people, spaces, and moments. Deep listening could help me stay more present in class, connect more fully with friends, and even approach my art differently. Instead of only focusing on how something looks, I could also think about how it feels or resonates, how it vibrates, how it breathes. Listening deeply reminds me that creativity isn’t just about self-expression, it’s also about awareness, empathy, and being open to what the world is already offering.

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