Listening Well

listening is an act of heart
hearing stories is a healing act
may you share your life

"It is the province of knowledge to speak And it is the privilege of wisdom to listen." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

If you listen to NPR(National Public Radio), you have probably heard of StoryCorps - "Our mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening." I love the whole idea, and love their byline - Help StoryCorps create a nation of listeners. I do wish I asked more questions of my family and gleaned more family history.
Most of us have played some version of the game telephone when we were young. A word or sentence is whispered round the circle and, usually, comes back mangled and a faint shadow or untelligible from the original words. As kids, it's comical.
Now as an adult the lack of communication can be astounding at times. It seems that it is hard for us to slow down and listen with focus. Just the simple act of answering phone, "This is Lynn" is met with response like, Hello, Susan, Hello, Ren, Hello, Randy, Hello, Lance. It is mystifying sometimes. Then I think of my own self-involvement, and the mind  (ok, and my mouth) chatter on while listening quietly would be the inappropriate and kind thing to do.

November, 27, 2009 is the National Day of Listening sponsored by StoryCorps. From their site:

Make a yearly tradition of listening to and preserving a loved one’s story. The stories you collect will become treasured keepsakes that grow more valuable with each passing generation.

"The opposite of talking is not listening. The opposite of talking is waiting". - Fran Lebowitz

May you stop to listen, and may you be heard

Listening - A Magical Skill

"Listening is everything. Listening is the whole deal. That's what I think. And, I mean that in terms of before you work, after you work, in between work, with your children, with your husband, with your friends, with your mother, with your father. It's everything. And, it's where you learn everything." - Meryl Streep

This quote was shared with me by my friend, Jan, who is a superb listener. I am grateful to the many hours that she and others have sat witnessing my life and my sacred stories.

Though I have a grasp of the importance, I have yet to master the skill of listening, to stop the me thoughts cascading over my companion's words looking for a way to regain the verbal floor. . . "that happened to me, too" . . . I hope to allow more openings to partake of other truths.

There's been some kind of a glitch that has prevented me from uploading pictures. I hope to figure it out soon.

May you honor the sacred thoughts and stories around you