Hey, y’all~ I’ll keep today’s message short and sweet.

In a whirlwind day of projects and preparing to move, I was caught up by a live version of “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel. This piece usually makes me stop, but it seemed more important to just sit with it today and reflect on what’s going on outside these four walls…

The pain that our marginalized brethren are going through is significant; the violence and damage done to bodies and communities is real. The system, the “American Dream,” and forgetting about what is right and just, is not working.

Talking with friends and family about it reminded me of tenets that we can all try to live by. We all have our own ethos, our way of living, or our own way of talking or challenging the status quo, if we do. But in this midst of turbulence, how do we know what or who to even listen to?

What comes to mind are ten reminders:

*Listen to others’ suffering – you’ll learn more about their story.

*Listen to the silence – observe what is not being said.

*Listen to your intuition – it may guide you to the solution that’s needed to move forward.

*Listen to the community – the network of people around you matter.

*Listen to the hatred and anger – within it may be a chance to do better by yourself and others.

*Listen to children – sometimes they’re wiser than we are and just plain loving.

*Listen to Nature and her sentient beings – sometimes their sounds are soothing and grounding.

*Listen to kindness and compassion – we all need some more of it.

*Listen to your soul’s stirrings – it may be time for action that stems from intuition.

*Listen to your privilege – what does it keep you from understanding about others’ pain, and what can you do to help them?

Deep listening can be challenging, and hard, and full of uncertainty. But that doesn’t mean we can’t try – and we must try to do the right thing, for ourselves and for others. That pausing point doesn’t come out of thin air, it’s a practice and a choice. Maybe listening will feel more useful than running circles at some point? One would hope.

Be safe, keep learning about yourself and others, and the growth will come.