To enter deep listening, I’ve had to learn how to keep emptying and opening, how to keep beginning. We must honor that listening is a personal pilgrimage that takes time and willingness to circle back. With each trouble that stalls us and each wonder that lifts us, we are asked to put down our conclusions and feel and think anew. Unpredictable as life itself, the practice of listening is one of the most mysterious, luminous, and challenging art forms on Earth. Each of us is by turns a novice and a master, until the next difficulty or joy undoes us. — Mark Nepo
While I take time to listen, I begin to notice so much richness around me. From hearing the sighing of the sleeping dog, to the birds in the trees to the voices from a distance. Then I notice that many of the messages seem to be for me. The messages I hear from within myself or maybe something a friend or stranger says “off handedly”. Messages that tell me what direction to go to next. Physical direction or spiritual direction or opening up to what this life would have me do. It is an adventure to “just be” and listen for what is calling you.
As Mark Nepo said, “listening is a personal pilgrimage that takes time and willingness to circle back”. Set apart time each day to listen. Let yourself listen to the inner message when driving, when talking to a friend or when taking a walk. Follow that voice.