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You become deaf. What do you do with yourself?


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I'm watching the very interesting film GOYA'S GHOSTS, a great recent movie depicting the life of the artist Francisco Goya during the periods of the Spanish Inquisition and the subsequent Napoleonic "liberation".

 

I never knew that Goya, like Beethoven and Thomas Edison and Frankie Valli, had become deaf later in his life.

 

In the film, Goya says, "Thank Heaven that God has not seen fit to deprive me of my sight."

 

He was a painter. But what about you as a music and audio person.... What if you were to lose ALL of your hearing over, say, the next five years or so....

 

What would you then do with yourself? :confused:

 

I recall reading how Helen Keller, when asked the hypothetical question "If you could have restored now one of your senses, sight or hearing, which would you choose?"

 

She answered without a moments hesitation, something to the effect of, "Hearing, of course. With your eyes you only behold a person's exterior, but with your ears, it's as though you are listening to their very soul."

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I always figured I would paint in that unfortunate event.

 

We can start peeling away various encumbrances of ability until the spirit is virtually free of sensory interruptions or the burdon of motility -- but, you know, all things come in time.

 

I think I'd just as soon not sit around and worry about all the horrible stuff that can happen, that may happen, that's likely to happen... soon enough.

 

It's a nice afternoon here... ;)

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Pyro. I'd be in the mood to blow stuff up. I'd stay away from small clubs with bad foam and low ceilings.

 

Has anyone heard the story about Macca's pyro guy, Shakey? More on that later.........

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I'd just keep listening to the music in my head - - It's generally more interesting than what's on the radio anyway. I'd miss some sounds - the waterfall in my living room, the birds outside, things like that... But many more sounds I wouldn't miss at all.

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If there was not any medical technology that could restore at least a partial hearing and I was forced to lived in silence, I would feel the vibrations.... Of course, that might limit the use of digital technology since it's more of a canned sound than what comes out of acoustical instruments.

 

Nothing could ever replace the joy of listening to and creating music, but as I continue to age, at times I think that my hearing is not quite as sharp as it used to be. I work around a LOT of industrial noise with the constant rumble of literally hundreds of machines designed to automate and process both letter mail an packages. There are constant shrill warning bells going on and off as machines stop and start, the constant hum or rumble of machine operation, and the loud speaker that is double in volume so that people can hear pages over the noise of the equipment.

 

Sometimes I don't know if it's hearing loss or just the fact that I have learned to TONE IT OUT to keep it from driving me insane. There are times where I walk through the plant where it feels like I'm standing out in the middle of a Sprint Car race with a gambling casino crowded into the center field surrounding me.... It's freaking LOUD!!!! It's one thing to go out and watch a race or visit a casino every now and then, but to have that amount of noise combined in an everyday setting will wear on the ole ears.

 

If I were not able to hear myself play my music, then I would obviously turn to other fine arts that nurture my need to create. I write songs, poetry, and novels. I am a photographer. I am a graphic artist. I paint.....

 

Outside of the Fine Arts, I play around with web developing and currently I am taking courses in the development of Oracle databasing, learing to write SQL and SQL*PLUS commands in my career field.

 

The world would not end, but it would surely be a less enjoyable existence if I could not enjoy the sounds of life..... and the beauty of music.

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