And so we listen...
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Hello friends, The world is often filled with noise. What helps you listen? It took me many years to learn to listen deeply, instead of trying to anticipate. Trying to anticipate was my child-self’s way of keeping safe. Not that it always helped. Not when violent outbursts were random. But I tried anyway, baking that pattern into my body and mind. Eventually, I realized I wasn’t giving others a chance to really express themselves. I didn’t give myself a chance to express myself on a deeper level, either. But the world needs us to listen. We need to listen to each other. Finally figuring that out, I trained myself to not anticipate, to not fill pauses, and to still myself inside enough to listen more patiently and more clearly. This took years, but it is a practice that I value. As a writer, it is particularly important that I listen, because otherwise my words and characters become flat. As an amateur photographer, I listen, too, and listening helps me notice the world around me more intimately and precisely. Listening enriches life. Noticing helps ground us in place. De-centering ourselves for a moment deepens our connections. So, when bombs drop, how do you listen? When a child cries, how do you listen? When music arises, how do you listen? When whistles sound, how do you listen? When crows call, how do you listen? When a friend needs your presence, how do you listen? What helps? Best wishes — Thorn
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T. Thorn Coyle
Hello friends, When was the last time you paused because something was so beautiful, you needed a moment? When was the last time you were emotionally moved by nature, a painting, a song, a film, a dance? And how often do you make space to welcome beauty in your life? “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” wrote Margaret Wolfe Hungerford. She was speaking of subjectivity. That each of us finds different things—objects, people, places—beautiful. But there’s more to it than simple taste or...
Hello friends, I had oral surgery last week, and now that I’m able to eat kind-of-solid-but-still-mushy food, I’m making oatmeal every morning. As a consequence, I’ve been engaging in some simple honey magic. No, I’m not harvesting my own honey. No, I’m not leaving a jar of honey out beneath the full moon. Those are two magical things to do, but my ambitions right now are simpler. All I am doing is this: Gathering some honey on a teaspoon, I drizzle the golden amber substance into the bottom...
Hello friends, A mourning dove hoo-hoos outside my window. Black capped chickadees chirp and crows call. Daffodils spring along sidewalks, and the sun peers out among grey clouds. It is the time of equinox here on planet Earth. I love equinoxes and solstices, because these are four times a year when I stop to take a larger pause. To notice the changes—subtle and large—around me. In the seasons. In the slant of sun. In the conversations of birds. In the fall of snow or leaves, or the rise of a...