Evelyn Glennie on Being Human

Evelyn Glennie on Being Human

Another run, another great episode of Jeremy Vine’s Being Human. This time solo percussionist Evelyn Glennie set out her thoughts on what it means to be human, and I was excited by her mention of curiosity:

Curiosity plays a large part in what defines us as human beings… This sense of curiosity is my main stay. I have found other ways to feel and sense sound using my body as a resonating chamber. I have achieved my hopes and dreams of becoming a musician due to my innate sense of curiosity. I’ve learned to hear by lip reading, and I’ve learned to use my body to feel sound, as if it were a giant ear.

It took a few hundred metres to get the image of running along the road dressed up as giant ear out of my mind, but how brilliant that Evelyn was curious enough to explore listening in other ways that we now can enjoy the amazing sounds she creates and performs to audiences all over the world, in whatever way we hear.

Whilst looking around Evelyn Glennie’s website I found her blog and a post entitled ‘Are you coming from the heart?‘ She … Read more...

Being Human

Being Human

I was looking for a podcast to listen to on a run last night. Being a fan of the Jeremy Vine show on Radio 2 I searched and found a series of podcasts by Jeremy Vine called Being Human. With contributions from leading thinkers and writers these podcasts explore just what makes us human. I listened to the episode featuring Lord David Puttnam, a British film producer and educator.

Being human is remaining curious about the world, and remaining ambitious for what your contribution can be. (Lord Puttnam)

He spoke of the 2012 Olympics and how people collectively worked to make a success of the Games – the Games brought out the best in us, but it was always there! If you smile at someone, they generally smile back. We are all capable of doing the very best we can. We should never lose sight of this. Lord Puttnam and Jeremy Vine end the episode discussing the importance of focussing on doing the right thing and building each other up. This reminded me of a quote I once read:

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. (Dalai Lama)

This episode was a great encouragement and reminder that … Read more...