Hearing

"You know that ringing sound that you will perceive when you are in a very quiet area? Some people say this is an auditory-illusion brought about the ear’s inability to detect frequencies below the threshold of the human senses. This is completely wrong. That ringing covers up something else altogether. If you are quick, patient, and maybe a little lucky, you will be able to hear past the ringing. What you will hear are voices whispering to each other. They will silence themselves quickly but with practice, you will become more adept at catching and interpreting what they are saying. You will hear things of the past, the present, and the future.

And when you start noticing them, they will start noticing you."

I found this little nugget of wisdom on the internet the other day, and I liked it so much the I wanted to discuss it with all of you. This is something that I've been thinking about a lot lately. The author of that piece was focusing on music and voices, but I want to apply it to listening.

Now a days, it seems like everyone is rushing through life, never really paying attention to anything. They say that they are observant, but in reality, they don't notice anything. For example, they never hear the Earth breathe. If you have ever heard it, you might not have known what to call it, but you know the feeling. It's when the breeze flows through the trees, and makes a simple, beautiful harmony with itself. It's when a falling leaf hypnotizes you through its random, erratic motion. It's the power and majesty of a mountain, stretching its grand heights to the sky.

You might say, "What does this have to do with hearing?" Well, if you stop listening, and start hearing, then you will notice that every natural thing has a distinct noise (a song, if you will). All of these songs combine to create the world's most perfect symphony, but most people are in too much of a hurry to actually hear this harmony. They listen, and they just notice the individual noises, they can't notice how they combine.

This also relates to our creation of traditional music. When we sing, our hearts connect with this natural symphony on an instinctual level. Unless we consciously think about it, we will never even notice this connection. When we create music, our hearts tap into the inspiration of the Earth's breath, and it brings forth what it heard there. When we breathe with the Earth, we breathe with the entire human race.

My challenge for you this week is simple, yet hard. I want you to stop listening, and start hearing. I want you to hear the Earth breathing, and I want you to learn the little secrets she wants to share with you.

Thanks for reading, and have an awesome day!

Pencils

I had this really interesting idea today, and I wanted to put it up here before I forgot it, so that's why I'm posting twice today.

It feels like a lot of people live life with a pencil in their hand. They write lightly and are always ready to erase their mistakes. Some people think that they are doing the best thing by doing that, however, I disagree. Everyone should live with a pen, or even a great, big marker in their hand. Pencils are built for failure, why else would they come with an eraser, something to remove failures. So these people with pencils expect to fail, and are ready to hide their mistakes with the handy erasers on the end of their pencils. I want everyone to live with a pen. If you mess up, own it. No one will ever mess it up quite like you did, and you might even get the same results as those who hid their mistakes and did it another way. Pens have no choice but to write darkly, so everyone else will be able to clearly see what you've done. Be proud of every moment of your life, it's the only one you get, why not live it gloriously? When you leave, blind everyone around you with your brilliance.

Thanks for reading!

“Questioning”

Why do we do these things?

Civilization is not civil.

We kill,

Hate,

Destroy,

Waste.

We shatter our own dreams

With litanies of

No,

Can’t,

Won’t,

Shouldn’t,

Impossible.

We no longer hear the music,

The magic is gone.

We have killed ourselves.

That about sums up my day. Hope your day was better than mine, and thanks for reading.

"The Watcher"

I sit and watch all these people run through here with their meaningless errands and tasks. They all want the same thing and are certain that they are the only ones who know how to get it. But none of them know what they actually desire: the older ones want their youth back, the younger ones want to be older, and the ones in the middle wish they knew where they fit in to the big picture. Those are the ones are the closest to finding out what they truly want… How do I know all this, you ask? Well, through observation, of course. Sit a while and I’ll tell you how I used this simple skill to learn about life and why it exists.

I sit on a bench in Central Park for at least an hour every day. When I do this, I don’t read a book or do a crossword or anything like that, I just see. Not in the way most people see, for I am not just looking, I am seeing everything as if I had never seen anything like it before. For instance, several months ago, I saw a man propose to a young woman. He did it very well, too. He brought her to a cherry blossom tree in full bloom, then, he reminded her that he had first asked her out under those fragrant, colorful blossoms exactly two years ago. I could tell she was expecting something, but couldn’t tell what he was about to do. He told her that he loved her and wanted to love her forever as he got down on one knee and brought up a little, black velvet box with a diamond ring in it. She gasped and was speechless for a moment, then she pulled him up and gave him the most passionate kiss I had ever seen. I know that, where ever they are now, they are happy just to be with one another. Now do you see what I mean? No, I can’t tell you, you need to come to your own conclusions.

Well, maybe this story will help you. There was a man who always walked through the park at the same time every day, always going the same direction, always on the verge of running and always, always frowning. One day, he was about ten minutes later than usual, and as he walked past me, he asked me for the time. I told him, and he almost cried in frustration. He sat down next to me, cursing and berating himself for being late. I asked him what was bothering him, and he told me that he was one of two with perfect on time record for his office. But now that he was late, there was no point in going to work today, as his co-worker was sure to mock him mercilessly all day long for being late. I had finally found out why he was in a rush every day. I asked him if he liked working there. He just stared at me as I was insane. When he answered me, he said, “Of course I like working at my office!” For some reason, I didn’t believe him, and I told him so. I told him to really think about what he loves to do, and to see if that is what he does at the office. He looked contemplative for a few minutes, then said, “No, I’m not happy with my work, but it’s all I know, how can I possibly do something different?” I asked him what he wanted to do, and replied that he would like to be a set designer for a small theater company. I told him, “If that’s what you really want to do, then, you will find that the world will conspire to help you achieve that dream. If you set your entire being on getting that dream, then nothing will stop you.” He thought about this for a few moments, then got up, saying, “Thanks for the advice; I do believe that I will go get my dream.” About a year later, I found him waiting for me on my regular bench, with a huge grin on his face. He stood up as I approached and shook my hand. I asked him how his venture into theater design had gone. He said that he was not only a set designer, but also the owner of a new theater downtown, and his first show opened last night. He then said that he would love to stay and chat, but he had family in town, and excused himself.

I hope these stories have enlightened you at least somewhat. I know that they helped me. If you ever want more advice for life, I will be here, don’t be afraid to call on me. My name? I don’t think you need to know that quite yet, maybe if you learn more about yourself, you will learn more about me.

Introverts

Well, here I am again. Writing a post that no one will probably read. I guess that I'm just depressed again. Anyway, I wanted to write today about introverts (I proudly am one of).  I just wanted everyone to know how our minds work, as most people nowadays are extroverted to some extent or another. Most introverts are extremely introverted, and we usually feel like we can't fit in well to the extroverted society, so we either close down even more, or we try to change ourselves (which never really works).

Something that everyone should know about introverts is that we need to have alone time every day to recharge. Sometimes even several times a day. I know that I need to recharge after every large (>10 people) gathering that I get forced to attend. Unlike extroverts, who recharge while in the company of many people, I need to go on a long walk alone to get ready for the next delve into social life.

Another big thing is that when we are quiet, that just means that we're thinking, not that we're mad at you or depressed. You should never interrupt a thinking introvert, they will get mad at you for that. If you want to talk to one who is currently thinking, you should patiently wait for them to acknowledge your presence, then proceed to socialize.

Some people think that introverts are shy and won't have long conversations with anyone. That is the basest kind of lie. It's merely that we don't see the point of small talk, and we won't talk to you just to fill a silence. However, if you get an introvert talking about something that they are really interested in, they won't shut up for hours. The trick to talking with introverts is to find a common interest and to not interrupt them or cut them off. That is another sure-fire way to piss them off and to put them back into their shell.

As far as friends go, introverts don't need nearly as many as extroverts.  I know nine people in this world that I would call a friend, and I love them with an unrivaled passion. If you are lucky enough to have an introvert call you a friend, then you should know that you have a loyal friend for life. We introverts don't like large crowds of people that we don't know. At parties, we will attach to the few friends we have there, and probably not leave their side until we go home.

The last thing that you should know is that when an introvert wants to be alone, YOU LEAVE THEM ALONE! The easiest way to lose an introverted friend is to go with them when they leave to recharge. Many times they will like to be alone in their room or in nature (I prefer the latter). If they are gone for two or three hours, that is entirely normal. Don't call them and make sure they are ok. They will be fine as long as you leave them alone.

I suppose that there is one more thing... When we get really thoughtful, we will occasionally forget to put an emotion on our face before we leave all thoughts of our surroundings behind us. Don't worry if an introvert is just sitting in a chair, looking completely dejected. they are just thinking, and I refer you to paragraph 3 for more information on that.

Thanks for reading!