Last year I sent an email about the longing for playful encounters via the digital space, like the early days of internet magic.

In that email I reference the project Learning to Love You More by Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher. If you’ve never checked it out, please go treat yourself. I have always loved the notion of weird assignments, tiny directives, and Fluxus like prompts for interrupting the seemingly ordinary.

My Soft Sabbaticals project and now the We Are A Murmuration project have an element of that type of play and experiential nature. And, I want to bring forth another way for us to deepen into this practice by taking a sonic field trip.

Why sonic field trips?

It is the most accessible way to remember to listen. And listening expands our capacity for aliveness with the everyday, with the seemingly mundane, and opens us up to chance encounters and an intimate entanglement with the more-than-human world. We tend to favor the visual, so what happens when we expand our listening and allow the ecologies of sound to permeate our sensory awareness?

Where will we go?

Each newsletter I’ll share our assignment. We’ll take field trips to the seemingly ordinary and everyday, to places of chance encounters, to your inner world, and the imaginal dreamtime, and probably to the future and past.

What you’ll need for the field trip -

Because the field trip assignments are of the sonic nature, you’ll need something to record on. The most obvious being your phone but feel free to use a tape recorder, or a handheld recorder. You can use the voice notes app, or something like the free Voice Record Pro (app). You’re welcome (and encouraged) to send unedited off the cuff recordings, these are usually the best. If you want to get fancy, edit away.

The most important thing is not the outcome of the recording, but the play and practice of doing the thing, trust me.

If you chose to participate, you can easily share your submission with me. This is an experiment. If I receive submissions, I will gather them with care and slowly post them to a dedicated page on my website (submissions can be anonymous if you like).

Ready?

{Scroll to the bottom for your first assignment}

A collection of listening experiences

This past weekend I participated in Reveil’s 13th annual event honoring Dawn Chorus Day, a 24+hour livestream of the dawn chorus from participants around the world. What a special experience this was, and the hummingbirds showed up in force! If you’d like to participate next year, be sure to check out Soundcamp’s page. (here’s my page)

Following that, Locus Sonus had a major part in making this event what it is. Check out their Soundmap of open mikes livestreaming across the world.

Karen Werner’s many radio projects, and an interview with her about Radio, Relationality, and Artistic Research

The Center for Deep Listening had their first Deep Listening Radio broadcast this past month. A beautiful project honoring the work of Pauline Oliveros and all those who cherish this practice.

If you’ve been longing to hone your skills for listening and communicating with your beloved animal friends - the incredible Olivia LaBarre is teaching an Animal Communication Practice Series, and it begins this week!

Your First Assignment

Assignment #1

1. Make a 2 minute recording of a seemingly ordinary moment in your daily life - brushing your teeth, washing the dishes, walking your dog, paying a bill online, chopping vegetables, talking to your cat, digging a hole, etc.

2. Give your recording a title

3. (Make it anonymous if you choose)

   I can’t wait to listen in! This is a practice in co-becoming, attention, and sonic awareness of the present moment, just as it is.

   SUBMIT YOUR ASSIGNMENT HERE

P.S. - My dear friend Georgia Wall of The Ceremonialist has just released The Circle Room. This is a book of hours, months, seasons & life cycles. To enter the book is to enter The Circle Room, a ceremonial practice & a sacred clock. This is a work of art to be celebrated! She has limited copies available, you can order your copy here (also available for in-person exchange in Ridgewood, Queens or Manhattan).

P.P.S. - Have questions about the assignment? Feel free to reply back to this email. Always delighted to chat.