In the spirit of the holiday season, this month I’d like to give a gift to each of our readers. The gift is a better awareness of your sense of hearing.

Our sense of hearing allows us to hear the familiar voices of our loved ones, to recognize not just what they say but to know from their voice when they are tense, excited, sad or unsure. It allows us to hear music – not just hear it but to appreciate, experience and feel it. Our hearing keeps us safe whether that is hearing an alarm or the sound of gas from the stove, hearing the snap of a twig in the forest or the approach of a car.

One of the most important reasons for our hearing, and perhaps the least appreciated, is that it keeps us connected to our environment. The rustling of leaves in a tree, the sound of waves against the shore, the happy chirp of birds or the blissful quiet after a snowfall….these sounds go beyond seasonality, they have deep meaning to our psyche, our mood, and our well being.

Hearing is fundamental to good health. It is a basic input to cognition. We have to hear something before we can accurately process it, remember it, extrapolate from it, discuss it….On an even more basic level, our brains are constantly processing all manner of sounds, deciding whether they are important or not, putting into the background unimportant noises and focusing our attention on the sounds that have meaning to us. This processing helps to keep our brains active and healthy.

All too often, we take our sense of hearing for granted. This holiday season, the hope from all of us at Resonance Hearing Clinic is that you hear the jingle of bells, enjoy great discussions over the dinner table, dance to the music, and experience the very best of the season.