Listening and love

It happened slowly. There was a book. A few beautiful conversations. A day in the sun. A few good nights of sleep. And music, always music.

I didn't quite fall into the rabbit's hole; it was more of a gentle slide into a warm pool, sending ripples of joy and gratitude out across the water.

Insight can hit you like an earthquake, leaving you dealing with the aftershock for days after the main event while you wait for your mind to settle. This can be a wonderful and awesome experience, but also strangely exhausting.

Three times now I have been through this kind of cataclysmic event. Every time it has dropped me deeper into my understanding, but the landing has felt bumpy, and I felt disoriented for days. Just like Alice.

But insight can also tiptoe in, soothing and kind. Like gentle rain on a summer's day. Bathing everything in freshness and a golden light that illuminates everything it touches.

It finally crept over the threshold on Saturday afternoon, listening to a broadcast of The Listening World event streaming from Prague.

My friend Rob Cook took the stage, and his words completed my slide into that pool. Rob is a gorgeous human being. His story is inspiring.

His five key points were:

Listening is an act of love.

Listening is quiet.

Listening is an action.

Listening is healing.

Listening builds relationships.

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Rob talked about a time when it was part of his role to attend when someone had taken their own life. One of the first questions they had to ask was who the last person was the deceased had spoken to. Rob realised that you never know if you are going to be that last person. So, he decided to always speak kindly and gently and with love. Because you never know.

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I have wasted a lot of time in my life, caught up in anger. About people, circumstances, inanimate objects.

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Since changing our lives and moving to Morecambe seven years ago, I have been calmer and more forgiving. But the challenges of the last couple of years have triggered my old friend Cortisol more often. That surge of stress hormones coursing through my body is familiar, almost reassuring. But damaging.

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The thing is, though; I love being immersed in that sunlit pool of peace and tranquillity. It is not that I want to ignore the bad things that happen in the world. I know people are suffering. I often feel powerless.

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But the one thing that I can do is send out those ripples of love, forgiveness, and peace. If we all found a way to do a bit more of that. To live our lives in joy and with compassion. What a difference we could make.

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Remember today; speak kindly to everyone you encounter. Everyone is doing the best they can. Your kindness and love may be the thing that makes a difference to them. We can make things better…one person at a time.

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#kindness #compassion #connection #love

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This image is one of my favourite quotes from Sydney Banks.

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