Listening from the Heart requires love, patience, and tolerance and is one of the most intimate, compassionate, and loving expressions we can share with one another.
President Abraham Lincoln professed himself to be a “man of three ears,” indicating a capacity of emotional and spiritual depth. When we authentically embody this quality of Listening from the Heart, we demonstrate our understanding and inner level of stillness, comfortably listening without needing to speak.
“Silence is a source of great strength.”
Lao Tzu
One of my favorite singer/songwriters, Michael Franti, wrote a song entitled “Is Love Enough?” He sang his song at a concert in Holland, where he was invited to speak and share his music with fellow musicians and journalists who had exercised their “freedom of speech” in various countries where it was difficult to do so. While he was standing backstage, a woman came to him and said, “Michael, I am sorry these people are speaking such wonderful things about freedom in languages you don’t understand.” Michael sat there for a moment and LISTENED. He realized that it didn’t matter so much the words being said as the feelings and emotions being transmitted by their voices, and, in that moment, it occurred to him that maybe in our world today our freedom to LISTEN is as important as our freedom of speech.
Let’s not keep talking simply to increase the noise of our minds; but instead let’s be still in our silence and begin to notice the space between our thoughts, as it’s from here we notice our awareness and presence. And it’s possible that Listening from the Heart may be the “third ear” to which President Lincoln refers.
“Many a man would rather you hear his story than grant his request.”
Phillip Stanhope Earl of Chesterfield
Listening from the Heart is a “gift” we share with one another to enjoy a more meaningful connection. It shifts us from our thought into our perception and serves as a vehicle, taking us beyond our individual mental constructs of mind and into the pure essence of all unity, connecting us in light, love, and Divine Presence.
And L-I-S-T-E-N, I believe, is not coincidentally made of the same letters we find in S-I-L-E-N-T.
Amy Alcini is the Founder and CEO of Recycling Happiness™. She is an Inspirational Speaker, Author, and Poet. Her debut collection of poems entitled Symphony Upon My Soul is available on Amazon. Within two weeks of its release, it made its way to #2 on The Amazon Best Seller List (in love poem books) and ranked #1 in Hot New Releases.
Her new book Recycling Happiness: A Return to Heart, is set to be released Feb 2014.
