Listen more deeply to the world.

In a little over a week, I’ll be heading to the Pacific Northwest for the Earth Joy Writing Book Tour! I’ll be blogging here daily to share insights, discoveries, and images… Today we reflect on the importance of beginning to listen.

 

Humans are not very good at listening. We can prefer the life of the mind, and in our minds, we can get stuck in a loop of listening to ourselves telling the same stories over and over.

“I have to say yes to this obligation.”

“There’s not enough time for self-care.”

“I can’t be my true self at work.”

In the next three days, I will share 3 Earth Joy Writing steps to help you listen more mindfully.

           

Step 1: Listen to the world. Spend some time today listening to all the beautiful sounds all around you. Start where you live. Listen to the hum of your refrigerator filled with food, or the heat in your building keeping you warm.  Listen to what is always vibrating in its own beauty that you don’t usually take the time to notice.

Then go outside. Listen to the birds.  The traffic. The airplane overhead. Perhaps you will hear children's voices.  Music on the radio.  The wind in the trees.

Now go about your day, your ears opened to all the beauty that we take for granted and overlook in the world.  Listen to your own heartbeat.  Listen to the silence between the sounds.

Realize that the world is making music for us all the time, and in order to be in harmony, all we have to do is listen with open ears and an open mind.  After spending a day listening in this open way, take ten minutes to record what you heard. Try to list every sound you remember. You might find that the sounds themselves live on the page, too. You might find yourself writing a poem—or a song.

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I’d love to hear how you are listening more deeply today. Leave a comment below and let me know how Earth Joy Writing is helping you understand the importance of listening in your own life.