Listening for Silence

Emergence practices offer meaningful ways of connecting to the living world, inviting you to bring an element of one of our stories into your life. Inspired by the virtual reality film Sanctuaries of Silence, this practice invites you to discover how a new experience of sound can change our relationship to the living world.

Silence is the poetics of space, what it means to be in a place. —Gordon Hempton

The Hoh Rain Forest is one of the largest temperate rainforests in the United States. Situated within the Olympic National Park in western Washington State, the Hoh is protected from commercial logging and is a haven for old-growth Sitka spruce, western hemlock, coast Douglas-fir, big-leaf maples, and black cottonwoods. Far from trafficked roads and the unrelenting bellow of development, the Hoh remains one of the quietest places in North America.

For thirty-five years, acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton has been documenting the sounds of the Hoh and its many species: Pacific tree frogs, Roosevelt elk, northern spotted owls, red-breasted nuthatches, Pacific wrens.

Listening through a microphone taught him to take things in with equal value, without judgment. As we joined him in the rainforest for the making of Sanctuaries of Silence, we were struck by this practice and we found ourselves completely present in the landscape and deeply connected to the space around us.

Our hope with this practice is that you come away with a new perspective toward sound and the power of silence. The simple act of listening to the natural world can profoundly impact our relationship to place, rooting us in a presence that we otherwise often take for granted. These prompts can be done over the course of a day, a week, a month. Try to listen without judgment and simply be present, open, and curious.

Where is the place you spend the most time indoors? Go to this place. It could be a room in your home or your office. Sit or lay down in a comfortable position. Spend several minutes with your eyes closed, listening to all of the sounds around you, nearby and far away. What do you hear?

Seek out a public or urban environment — a local coffee shop, a busy street corner, your rooftop. Again, for several minutes, listen to the sounds around you. Try to take it all in, with equal value, without judgment. What do you notice?

Find a natural / green space within your town or city — a public park or garden or a tree in your yard. Close your eyes and listen for a longer period this time. How is the quality of sound different in this location compared with the location in the last prompt?

Seek out a natural space, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. This space could be a wooded trail or a meadow with a stream. Sit or lay down with your eyes closed. Listen to the sounds around you. What do you hear in this place?