Yesterday morning as I was driving up Goliad, this music came on..
Dueling banjos.. and I began tapping my fingers against the steering wheel and suddenly felt the tears roll down my face… because I was so enjoying the music and could just imagine the guys smiling and laughing as they played against each other and for each other at the same time.
I loved this music so much that I pulled over into the parking lot just to listen to it again with my full attention… and then I sent the Spotify link to a few people.
One of them sent a text back, “that is beautiful… but how do you hear that?”
I explain this so often to people… My hearing loss is unique, kinda like my personality, kinda like everyone else … I hear percussion, miss the wind pipes, I hear the music and can’t understand the lyrics, I can catch sarcasm and miss the question, I will hear the birds but have no idea what direction they are coming from, I hear the children laughing, the leaves rustling, the can popping open, but I feel the person walk up behind me, and I feel the presence of someone next to me but I can’t understand a word they say unless I read their lips.
I know the tune of many songs because I was raised in a house filled with music but I can’t carry a tune to save my life… but I can tell if you are singing it wrong! 😉

I can hear men’s voices better than women’s, can listen to Johnny, Waylon and Willie all day long… and I can dance on beat without any issues at all… but I can’t tell when the music pauses if it’s at “normal” volume and I can’t understand a movie without captions.
I can’t hear the water dripping in the sink, but I do hear the toliet flush…
I heard the kindness in the voice of the barista at Starbucks just as clearly as I heard the disdain of the woman at the store that was upset that I didn’t hear her ask me to move.
As I explained to my friend, I added this.. “I hear more than you think I do and less than I want to,” but I got to thinking… maybe I really hear what is meant for me to hear… like the amazing sound of dueling banjos!

I hope y’all will listen to this turned up full blast and tell me how it made your day a little brighter, too! #jeannasoul #musicandmassage
https://open.spotify.com/track/6kktMeJWb4K8DMVsS0wtsk?si=7akQCoSsRSO85PQ16FMc1g&utm_source=copy-link&dl_branch=1