Introducing Listening to the SONG of Life
1.7 Listening to the SONG of Life as Typology, Metaphor, and System
A Concise Typology of Listening to the SONG of Life
The most concise description of listening to the SONG of life is a simple typology. Listening to the SONG of life is an acronym that stands for listening to “S” as Self, “O” as Others, “N” as Nature, and “G” as Goddess-God-the Divine.
Listening to the SONG of Life as Metaphor
Rippling Waves in a Pond
More than a simple typology, listening to the SONG of life can be described metaphorically as a series of concentric waves rippling from a fountain in the middle of a pond. From the central fountain of self-awareness in the pond, waves ripple outward in circular rings. Each ring is a different context in the SONG of life. The first circular ring around the fountain represents listening to others, the next ring, moving outward toward the edge of the pond, represents listening to the natural world. The last ring of rippling waves that touch the edge of the pond represents listening to the Divine.
Sonic Vibration
Moving from the visual metaphor of rippling water to a sonic metaphor of musical strings adds further depth to an understanding of the listening to the SONG of life. Consider the four listening contexts as different strings on a ukulele.[1] Each string produces a unique tone when plucked. So too, listening to a particular context in the SONG of life produces a unique tone. When the musician uses their fingers to push two or more strings against the fretboard of the ukulele and strums across the strings, a blended tone or chord is produced. So too, when we listen to two or more tones in the SONG of life, we can hear a blended, and often richer, chord of life. As we cultivate listening to multiple tones in the SONG of life, we hear an arrangement or sequence of chords known as a song. There are many such songs in the greater SONG of life that can be experienced as we consciously develop our listening capacities.
Rings on a Target
Imagine the listening contexts as four circles arranged like rings on a dart board. The smallest circle occupies the center or bull’s eye, the next largest circle surrounds this center, the third circle surrounds the second, and the largest circle surrounds all the others (the outer rim of the dartboard). The inner most circle represents listening to self, and involves being centered, open and aware of one’s thoughts, emotions, and needs. This self-awareness can expand to include a receptive awareness of other human beings in the circle called “other” that surrounds the center of self.
Listening to others includes listening to their verbal and nonverbal messages, and listening to their emotions and needs via compassionate empathy. The circle of others can expand to include non-human others in the natural world of the third circle such as micro-organisms, insects, animals, plants, trees, rocks and minerals, and celestial bodies.
Human beings exist in the context