2022: The Year of Curious Listening

Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention in the present moment with curiosity and kindness. It has a quality of openness, of being willing to receive the information available to us in each moment. It can feel like deep listening - the kind of listening that heals and soothes wounds, that connects, that opens closed doors and expands the sense of the possible, that lightens and uplifts. The world feels like it needs some deep listening right now.

We can start by listening to ourselves, checking in to see how we’re feeling, what emotions are present, what needs are being met or unmet. And checking in with the body with great kindness and curiosity, to notice what it wants to tell us (maybe it's asking us to notice not just the achy knee but the knee that feels well-oiled and sturdy; maybe it’s asking us to notice the tight jaw so we can adjust the hight of our computer screen to ease pressure on the neck). We can listen to the sounds around us, to the birds whose presence marks the changing seasons if only we listen, to the wind in the trees or the rattle of branches, to the rhythm of raindrops and the silence of snowfall.

As we listen deeply, we simply bring our presence, letting listening be enough for the moment, taking in what is already a fact, and accepting it as such. Before we seek to act or change anything, we must listen.

And we can listen with curiosity: does sunlight have a sound? Do the robins talk to the bluejays? We can notice when our minds fill in gaps with stories, and how often those stories are incomplete or even wrong.

Our circle of curious listening expands further outward, as we open to loved ones, colleagues, neighbors, friends: creating space for their words, for what is said and what goes unsaid. We can notice how often our mind leaves a conversation, and we can begin bringing it back, letting the listening be enough. We can expand our circle further still to strangers (“friends we haven’t met yet” as my Dad likes to say), and then people who challenge us. What do they need to have heard? We just listen, not fixing or solving, not rebutting or convincing, not counting the minutes till we get to speak… just listening, with curiosity. Receiving all that is shared, not just the parts that fit in with our views or assumptions.

Stephen Carter, in his book, Civility, recounts that when asked what she said to God when she prayed, Mother Teresa replied, “I don’t say anything, I just listen.” When asked what God said to her, she replied, “He doesn’t say anything. He just listens.”

What would happen if we all made 2022 the Year of Curious Listening? What deeper understandings, connections and collaborations might be formed? Would we all have a greater sense of safety? Would each of us feel seen and heard?

I’d love to find out.

Wishing each of us a year of felt connection and a sense of the possible,

Your CMP family