Listen for What You Want
Listen for What You Want
Pure listening is something that is greatly misunderstood. Sometimes called Deep Listening, Simply Listening, or Just Listening, it's a way of being present with someone or something that brings the essence of what is being listened to to the forefront. You are listening without agenda, as a baby listens. Or like you would listen to a piece of music. Letting it wash over you.
Sometimes the directive to "listen like a rock" is given. I think of it as witnessing.
You are listening without anything on your mind. A pure open space for the other person or what you are listening to to come through.
A mentor of mine, Mavis Karn, calls it "Listening to the music that that person is".
Whatever you listen to will expand, will flourish and blossom. If it's another person, it's the greatest gift you can give them. The gift of being truly listened to. Without agenda.
In the last 3 years, I have been a founding curator of The Listening World Conference in Prague and for the last 8 months the host of the podcast "A World That Listens". In this years-long, deep dive into True Listening, I realized that you can listen to anything. Anything you want to have more of.
You can listen in a relationship, and that relationship will strengthen.
You can listen to life itself, and you will experience more awe and beauty in life.
You can listen to your dreams, and they will flourish.
It brings to mind this quote from Franz Kafka:
“You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.” ― Franz Kafka
Many people don't know what they want. What is my dream? Or, very commonly, later in life, once the first dream is achieved, what now?
I spoke last week with a young entrepreneur who had designed, set up, and scaled an engineering manufacturing firm. He was in his mid-thirties, and all of a sudden got to the end of his dream. What now? In our conversation, he realized that he wanted to feel that passionate spirit for life, that zeal, again.
In my work, ultimately, I always come back to wanting others to feel the aliveness and freedom that is at the foundation of everything. The spirit we are all born with that never fades or diminishes our whole lives. The core of us that is always perfect, whole, and filled with life.
We don’t just listen with our ears. We listen with our whole body. With our skin, with our very being, we listen with our minds, our hearts, our guts. Gloriously, we listen. It’s a very receptive state. There’s a space, a vacuum, if you will. A waiting.
And we are filled.
Filled by life itself, filled up to exploding with love, with peace, with feeling. Filled.
There's a magical space of listening where you can hear yourself or another, beyond the words and beyond your thinking.
Listen. Listen until life fills you to beyond bursting. And then unleash yourself.
When you listen to yourself from a quiet and still space, listening to the music that you are, what do you hear?
What do you want?
With Love,
Sara Joy
Upcoming Events
Stay Tuned!
More Content Like This
Wondering what Sara Joy is seeing fresh and new each day? Check out the Daily Muse on the Live Your Alive Life website.
Free Video Series! I recently created a free video series for clients and anyone who wants to know more about my work. This is "The Basics" about my approach and what I wish everyone knew in life to live more alive in all areas.
You can access it here: https://www.liveyouralivelife.com/. Just scroll down until you find Get Started - Free Mini Course
The Listening World Podcast - A World That Listens: Experiences in Deep Listening - Join Sara Joy O'Neill from The Listening World in conversations with thought leaders, fresh voices, and others about truly listening from the inside out. You can find the podcast on a few platforms, including Spotify and YouTube.
Connect with us on Instagram and LinkedIn @sarajoyoneill