I'm much better at listening than speaking. My silence has made me in the past feel like a thief and ashamed. I've since found out that I am a thief but I don't say this like it is a bad thing. I'm wired this way and in this way it is my super power and dignity in this life. I steal things everyday. A song. A photo. A poem.
If a person is told to be quiet enough as a child they learn to listen with a keener sense of urgency to find out what is so important about what is said and heard. If a person lives long enough, a person can actually cultivate a talent for listening in this way. If they live a really long time they might have something to teach about the whole ball of wax.
Even though listening to other people can be harder as we are navigating into learning situations that are challenging, it still works as an empowerment. We can listen as if we are being spoken to in the languages of all our lives. We can listen and hold our interest to mystery instead of judgement and there will always be something of value to hear, especially if what people are saying is annoying us in some way. If we are really open and given to theft, we might just slip away with something said or unsaid and there may be something of value to share.
Thank you for listening.
Music: This song I took to immediately when I first heard it in 1985. This particular decade witnessed music shifting as people responded to it. Music is a great and vast mystery to me like an ocean teeming with wildness within and beyond my sight. Music is an element inviting adventure. I listened like a dope addict. The relating to this song makes me laugh now as I wasn't aware of my own circuitry, at the time. Of COURSE, I would identify with Listen Like Thieves! It really is all in our hands as Michael Hutchence sings.
The original post in this series of poems by Hafiz (including an addendum regarding the authenticity of these poems) can be found here.
The Gift: Poems by Hafiz and translated by Daniel Ladinsky can be purchased here.