It may not be news to you but:
There are two types of listening. In one type, information passes through a prism of comprehension...no, not a prism, some kind of internal transmogrification apparatus, where information is brutally converted into genres of thought & feeling we're more tuned towards (or our life-condition tunes us towards). Nothing new ever happens in this kind of listening, we learn nothing and are no closer to comprehending anything outside of us than we're able to look up our nostrils without a mirror. We find it easy to judge others from this place, because we can't tell how their story is different from ours. We are baffled by different behaviours because we never switch this apparatus of preconception off.
In the other type of listening, we're open. There is no apparatus. Information flows into us and lights up new spaces of darkness and we go: "Oh! I never looked at it that way!" The world is then an easier place to navigate, it's easier to decide when to care and when not to. It's more difficult to invalidate someone else's feelings or world views; harder to call them 'stupid'. It's easier to let go of 'shoulds' and concentrate on what's fun. It's easier to learn no matter how old we get. The panic of bafflement gives way to the thrill of exploration.
So...like...what I'm sayin is...When I crack this, I'll give you a buzz.
It is deep. But true. :)
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