What people see are externals; physical attributes, profiles and position, passions and power—
or lack thereof.
People see actions and assume motivation;
people see doubt and assume weakness. What people see is not me.
I am more than my package, more than my history, more than my gifts, and
I need to be listened to.
I shouldn’t need validation, but how do I know I really exist if I don’t hear back from the universe I walk in?
Reading alone in a window seat, viewing nature from my perch, writing poetry and capturing all I see in drawings and photos, words that rhyme—I used to think that would be enough. It would be like playing cello on a deck in a wild, ethereal Alaskan wood—no one listening except the trees and sky and creatures hidden from view. Mystic communion with the world.
Romantic nonsense.
Contemplation is preparation—not enough just as is.
If it does not prepare me to worship or serve or commune with others, meditation and creation are empty romantic drivel. And if there is no one to hear, then
the ribbon of music drifts on the air and is just as lost to the cosmos as if it had never been played.
So I need to create, but I also need you.
Are you listening to me?
Pingback: Contemplation Is Preparation | A p r o n h e a d — Lilly
I’m listening. And watching, thinking, praying. Your audience may not always comment or encourage you, but it may be that they need your ministry at this moment. And we may not always be able to express ourselves as well as you can.
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Thank you. It is my need, but it is also commentary on the ubiquitous presence of social media and the possibilities for contact, and yet we are often estranged from one another, even family and friends, by the oversaturation of our lives with busyness and information. We have forgotten what it means to really stop and listen and commune with one another. I have that most often with special friends who go to coffee with me and no Smart phones allowed. 🙂
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Glad you have friends that listen. We all need them.
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The few and the mighty. 🙂
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Yes. It is lovely to have someone to share actual listening and speaking with – it isn’t easy to find especially if everyone you grew up with is far away.
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Social media gives but it also takes away. We feel blindsided sometimes, thinking we have made connection when it has been just a touch and go.
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