Today’s Practice:

Invite your children to join you as you sit quietly outside or by an open window. The best time to do this is in the early morning or late at night. Listen to all the sounds: birds singing, cars driving, dogs barking, wind blowing, and any other sound present. As you listen, you can imagine the sounds as the melody and rhythm to a song. See if any words come to either of you, and write them down.

This is a peaceful way to practice listening to what is known as the soundscape – a term popularized by the work of Canadian composer Murray Schafer who defines soundscape as our sonic environment, the ever-present array of noises with which we live.

Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison was an American writer noted for her examination of black experience (particularly black female experience) within the black community. She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Her books include The Bluest Eye & Song of Solomon.