Art, The Great Inner Bridge

   February hangs on by a day, reminding me, that mother earth is in control. The day is cold and full of sunshine, so it finds me only a little melancholy. So I decide to write. ( There is a cake in the oven, so my sense of smell should take care of the blues!) ( I never let them win!!)
   Coming to the close of another month, I like to share what I have been reading. Usually it is a mountain of books, but this frigid month, I stayed with one read. This is so unlike me, that I have had to stop and think about this phenomenon. One book, in one month, this may be a first! I have always liked first, so this may be a new trend. ( Don't bet on it!) ( You know how fast I read!!)
   The book title is Seven Thousand Ways To Listen by Mark Nero.
Some may say, I am a good listener, some would say not. I feel that it is an important quality that could use some tweaking . I have mastered tuning out, in the midst of chaos so well, that listening can also be lost.
  So this choice was educational, and entertaining. This book should probably be taught in school, and all adults should revisit this book often. It is a beautiful piece of....I don't know how to say it. A discussion, a conversation, a metaphor, a piece of memoir, a poem, a story about listening. To me it is a piece of art, that connects the dots.
    I surround myself with art, for its healing powers. The art of cooking, the art of writing, painting, photography, reading, decorating, gardening, music. These many art forms, make me a better person. This piece of art that I just finished reading, will forever touch me.
  Below are a few lines from the book, that hold my heart with its words.
We will not perish for want of information; but one want for appreciation
At every turn in every day we are presented with angels in a thousand guises, each calling us to follow their song
When we lose our map, our real knowledge of the path begins
An old woodsman told me that the reason most people get lost is because they don't go far enough
I went inside to another place, searching for him in the remnants I carry in the back of my heart
we still must guard against becoming intoxicated by the sediment of life
Taste everything and be surprised
When we can stop talking, stop mapping, stop the chatter in our minds, we listen
Art Is the great inner bridge that lets the song of inwardness sing us
Joy is the hum of oneness
My first teacher on how to listen was the sea
( know I should stop, but the entire book is highlighted!!) (Jimmy Fallon would say, "Its the Best")


Try not to impose your human speech on everything you meet ( this is hard ! my words)


We often wear so many opinions that wonder has very little chance of touching our skin

Just because someone has invented the clock, does not mean you have to hurry through life

Iam sixty (really 61) and entering what the Chinese call the fifth season

OK, there is more, so much more, it took me a month to read!!! This is a book about listening to yourself, others, the earth, your God or whomever your spiritual guide is.  Mr. Writer of this book, said that this is the challenge to living: to take what we hear, despite our diminishments and make whatever music we can for as long as we can.

Listening is a great art, I hear you.