A nod to James Crews, whose musings in The Weekly Pause are stirring and affirming some of the practices and ways of being that I’m most drawn to.
Deep Listening
James Crews
Listening is just a way of going still,
so I can hear the slightest sounds
all around me. The house breathing
on its own, the machine we call
the air exchange doing its unsung work
of bringing fresh air into each room,
then gently shutting off. My husband’s
footfalls crossing the floor above,
low voices of a documentary left
playing on TV. Isn’t this listening too,
waiting for our lives to speak to us?
Rustle of my flannel shirt as I pull it on,
button it up, listening so far back
I remember a time when I couldn’t
do this myself and had to ask my mother
for help. How she knelt on the floor
in front of me until we were face to face,
and she tugged each tiny button
through its proper hole, her hands
making quick work of keeping me warm,
making my world whole again.
Waiting for our lives to speak to us. Yes, listening.
His words point me back to journal reflections this morning, part of my ongoing commitment to integration and presence. “Accepting what is” as I’ve felt the last 10 days pass as if a blink. “Accepting what is” as I’ve mapped out my day today, my doings, with some kindness and commitment.
- Personal Integrating + Presence (journal, exercise bike, meditation, this blog);
- Learning + Growing (two calls with colleagues);
- Nourishment + Tending (breakfast, light task stuff);
- Cultivation + Syncing (another call with someone interested in my programs);
- Integration + Presencing, Continued (maybe a short walk, some other email tending);
- Projects + Planning (today, a poetry publication)
- Physical Vessel Attention (yes, this is exercise and stretching — at this age of life, I find it has to be deliberate)
- Nourishment + Tending, Continued (dinner, some other light tucking / tending):
- Conversations + Life (an open space for choices, play, walk with my Sweetie, watching a documentary / historical fiction on John Adams
Listening in all of it. As always, it’s quite a thing to give ourselves to all of that inner and all of that outer. That point to accepting. That point to celebrating.
Your plan for the day is intriguing. I love the Physical Vessel Attention. So much better than “exercise.” Or even “movement.” Actually, I’ve been thinking of it as anchoring in my body. So that I can be more attuned to the subtleness of the voices that speak to me. Quieting the “other” noise.
Good to see your comments again here Saoirse. I like “anchoring my body” too, for those reasons that you name.
Dear Tenneson,
I have been away for nearly three weeks, and after a loooooong day of traveling, am settling at home. Listening was the everyday invitation as I, with my three American travel mates, and our remarkable Bhutanese guide, walked mostly in silence on ancient forest foot paths, up and down mountain trails, and on wooden or stone temple floors. A welcome reset for an overtaxed nervous system which I am safeguarding. I am happy to return, and to read your words. Kindest regards…
Thank you Katharine. Welcome back! I like the “nervous system safeguarding.”