Listening is being completely present to whatever is before us with all of who we are ~ Mark Nepo Listening can be one of the hardest tasks in such a noisy world...and when we do find a quiet space, life can continue to be loud...we have difficulty turning off the inner chatter, the dialogue within of lists, conversations replayed, and rehearsals of future discussions. I was raised in the Catholic Church and now lovingly refer to myself as a recovering Catholic...I grew up in an amazing parish, in a church and a Catholic school who uncovered the mysteries of the faith and led me to an appreciation of quiet time, reflection, and even silence. There was a level of self-discipline taught through the school and attending Mass that I am forever grateful for. Standing silently through long ceremonies and celebrations...kneeling quietly in prayer and reflection...and often just sitting in the hard pews. Of course, there were giggles, notes being passed, and recesses being lost...but my memories of sitting in the enormous, quiet building, adorned with stations of the cross, a gold tabernacle, and a black marble altar are memories of peaceful moments. We have the erroneous belief that listening is hearing others and while that is the end result, in order to achieve that, we must first appreciate the silence within...we cannot truly hear others until we are at peace with ourselves... Inner peace...quietness...silence...it may be a lost art, but it is worth uncovering...we are uncomfortable in quiet space only because we rarely experience it. Weve allowed ourselves to believe that we stay connected through technology...technology is not a deep connection, its convenient. Real and meaningful relationships are never convenient. Yet faster, quicker, more convenient ways of doing everything seems to rule the day...there is no faster, quicker or more convenient way of listening...there are no short cuts. No new & improved system to hear and be present for another human being...listening will always be old school and as the old school taught me, silence is the first step of listening... How will you choose to be silent today in order to listen? Believe. Create. Live.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 12:17:48 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015