The Art of Listening

Listening is an art. But it is a practice as well...

To listen is not an easy thing to do...

Most people never really listen...

Consider the times you have ordered things to eat - and your order arrives not being what you intended...

Consider the act of multitasking. Certainly one is not mindful or fully present when consciousness is being spliced apart and diced like vegetables in a salad...

Listening is a skill...

It is an art - AND a practice... I know - because I am not always the best listener... It is something I am working harder at embodying...

There are times I am angry when someone does not listen. In those moments I sometimes raise my voice and try to talk over them. I am irritated because it means I are not only not being heard - but I am not being seen either...

Listening is an art...

Sometimes we have to navigate very carefully around conversations - dancing in and out at appropriate times...

There are other times when we simply must listen - and do nothing else - and never utter ONE WORD...

Listening is a skill...

But it is also a practice - one that we must continually practice like fingering scales on a piano or guitar - if we are to ensure it becomes a skill that takes hold in our engagements and interactions...

But listening is also a gift, because it means we are truly present to another - fully. We not only listen to others - but we SEE them - with all their foibles and graces and irritating and endearing qualities as well...

When we listen to others, we cultivate the art of listening in ourselves...

When we listen to ourselves - truly and deeply - we can hear the Voice of God - which is deeply Still and Silent within us... Ah! But I could write a dissertation on that...

Mother Teresa said that God speaks in the Silence of the Heart...

So - practice the art of listening...

It is a practice and a skill - and a gift you give to yourself - and to others as well...

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