Closing the Gap

Between Hearing and Listening

Dancing to the music in my heart

Several years ago, I suffered a rather serious head injury. Every day for two years, I was in constant pain. I was often confused, frustrated, dizzy and incapable of functioning at a level that was my norm.

One of the most difficult aspects of the aftermath of that injury was my inability to hear correctly. 

For 24 hours a day, every day, awake or asleep (which I did very little of) the sound of a wailing siren rang loudly in my left ear.

To make matters even worse, every sound was heard at the same volume level. The sound of a pen scratching across a page or the whish and whirl of a ceiling fan were all as loud as the voice of one of my children.

I went from specialist to specialist looking for some kind of relief because when you speak for a living; you have to be able to hear.

One doctor, a Neurotologist, (Neurologist and Otolaryngologist) told me something that gave me no physical relief, but provided the key to my recovery.

“You listen with your ears, but you hear with your brain,” he said.

I experienced a calm I hadn’t felt since the injury occurred. In one sentence, I knew that there was something I could do.

I began to listen to books on tape (I had a very difficult time reading) and discovered the work of The HeartMath Institute. From their work I came to comprehend the fact that the heart also had a brain and I could use it to do my thinking.

This wonderful wisdom helped me to recover and I believe that I am even better than I was before.

Common sense is not about what we all should know; it’s about using our senses to help us navigate this physical plane.

When I began to truly listen with my heart, I was able to recognize that prior to the head injury; I was not really hearing. Yes, I heard sounds and voices, but now, I hear inflection and breath. I hear pauses and can differentiate between chest breathing and the breathing that comes from the gut.

I can hear the music that jewelry makes and how the person wearing it speaks within the rhythm and tone of their jewelry.

Some days, when I am still and calm and open, my senses all merge and I smell and hear and see, feel and even taste the sunshine.

Listening is so much more than hearing sounds. It is about truly re-connecting to the world around you.

The way back to truly reengaging with the world around you is through your senses, and while it may be called “common,” it is truly miraculous.

Be you, be well, be connected.

Bertice Berry, PhD.

Watch the conversation and listen to this amazing music in  PERISCOPE