Listen

The word listen is an intransitive verb. It requires pairing with the preposition to in order to be able to act on or affect something else, a direct object. I listen to music. This can seem like a limitation, an indication that listening as a practice isn’t active, doesn’t act on the world. However, this detail of language reflects a reality of listening. It is possible, perhaps even more fundamental, to listen without listening to something in particular. Listening can be an openness that constitutes listening subjects rather than expressing subjective force on the world. It is active in its role in the happening of subjectivity, personal and collective. We listen. We can even form a sentence with the word on its own, an imperative. Listen.