Writing down the moment

When I was eight years old my music teacher gave some very simple homework—listening, but not to music. We were to go and sit quietly in some corner of our home or garden and listen to the sounds around us. Then, with pen and paper in hand, our assignment was to describe those sounds. (Actually, the assignment was to choose three different locations and listen to the different sounds in each one.) I remember vividly how wonderful it was to become conscious of listening in this way.