Listening! When I finally learned to really start listening in my life, conversations opened up and became easier. Deeply listening to another, without thinking of what I was going to say when they stop talking, brought another level to understanding and intimacy. I want to know the essence of what others are conveying to me. Learning to listen started when I began to find stillness and the quiet mind becoming a part of my daily routine. Listening to the sounds of the natural world, pausing and noticing what is around me as I walk outside in the morning, even if it is just to get the paper or water the flowers.
 Hearing the sound of the voices of the people in my life as they express their ideas, wants, beliefs and inspirations. My Dad has been gone for about four years and I can still hear his voice talking to me. What a treasure it would be to hear him again. I remember how in his last years, he would repeat things he had already told me. I would listen to them over and over, allowing him the space to talk even though I had heard it before. I learned to enjoy being with him, although my mind would tell me I had already heard whatever he was saying.  The words began to not matter, only the feeling of being with him and enjoying his company was present.
Beginning to listen to myself and what I was feeling and wanting in each moment was huge! I not only wasn't listening completely to others, but also missing the essence of what I was truly saying to myself. Communication needs words to create a forum and discovering that the level of connection increases one-hundred fold when deeply listening is the gift at the center of the art of conversation, creating intimacy from the mind and the heart.

Listen and Enjoy more,
Bobbe