02_22_2025
There are a few reasons why I choose to keep my ears open while moving about in the world. Wearing noise-cancelling headphones makes me feel unpleasantly disconnected from my environment. Mostly though, I feel that there's simply too much to miss hearing with headphones on. Noticing the sounds around me is a way to stay grounded and present in the world. It's a way to bring small joys into my life, a practice which is increasingly important as the world gets more and more terrible.
I'm fortunate to live in a dense urban environment where I can be absolutely gluttonous about the sounds I take in. A flock of delivery bikes going by. The construction site down the street. A particularly expressive display of siren operation by an emergency vehicle. These are all good things to hear, in a John Cage, "everything is music" sort of way. There are more immediate aural pleasures to be had in the world though, and for me, this means picking up bits and pieces of strangers' conversations.
The other night I was walking the dog and passed a man finishing up a conversation on the phone. I caught the words "okay, good night. Take it easy." These are unremarkable words on the page. The tone in which "take it easy" was delivered though, was special to me. "Take it easy", (TIE henceforth) is a send-off which in my mind is typically delivered in a lighthearted manner. TIE is sometimes said in a hippie-stoner affect, "Take it eeeeaaaaaasy." It's the refrain of a breezy song by the Eagles, a band I don't personally care for very much. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention TIE's more juvenile cousin, "Take it sleazy." TIE is for good times, unless of course it is being used in an attempt to calm down a person who is very much not taking it easy, but that's not why I'm here.
On the night in question, I heard TIE delivered in a manner outside my preconceptions of the phrase. It was unusual enough in my experience to prompt me to write several paragraphs about it. This expression of TIE was neither light nor comical, but carried with it care and weight. The words were "take it easy," but the tone said more: "I'm glad to have heard your voice. I know things have been hard for you but keep your head up. Be kind to yourself. I'm here for you and I love you." I imagined that the person on the other end of the call had been comforted by the conversation. It felt like a privilege to have overheard this small moment of intimacy. It lifted my spirits and warmed me and made me feel glad in my decision to keep my ears open to receive such things. Small joys.
Please send all inquiries, gripes, and correspondences to [email protected]