When You Have to Make a Choice

I recently had a conversation with a few friends about “soft focus,” or the process of taking in everything but nothing specifically. I’ve always been interested in soft focus as it applies to listening, so I asked, “When should you move from a state of soft focus to something more specific?” My actress friend responded, “When you have to make a choice.” 

Choice is one of the fundamental principles of listening theory. Remember, how you listen determines what you hear, and what you hear determines how you feel and think. Choice is what determines how you listen, which leads to a cascade of effects.

So often, listening becomes ineffective because listeners--receivers--don't know what their choices are. In that case, it is only natural to put all the emphasis on the giver: the speaker, musician, or performer. That attitude puts the responsibility on others, and doesn't allow the listener to open themselves to more meaningful experiences the way they could otherwise.

So much can change once we know what our choices are–it’s like a secret menu at a restaurant where we’ll suddenly discover a new favorite dish. The four filters give an introduction to what your listening choices can be, and knowing these listening principles is always useful “when you have to make a choice.” 

Going back to soft focus: is there a filter that accurately describes that state? I would say that exploration encapsulates a state of soft focus. This is important because I believe that the exploratory filter is the strongest introductory filter in listening, which means that exploration yields the best connection the most consistently. Exploration has the smoothest segue into any other filter, be that analysis, critique, or the experiential filter, and that is especially useful when you don’t yet know how you want to connect with the music or performance. I believe that exploration is the optimal precursor to making the choice that determines how you listen.