For the first month of class all you could hear during the meditation was the sound of the lawnmowers and weedwackers. While sitting quietly you could sense the tension these machines brought. As the weeks went by it seems collectively that the group had kind of let the idea of sound nuisance go. Our acceptance for sound as is became obvious in the body language of the group during meditation. Ironically around this time the mowers stopped, and for the first time I realized what an inspiration loud decibels can be if used as tools to enter the moment time and time again.

Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening, loc. 507