Listening.

Idaho Bunny hiding on the path. He was listening. 

The phone rings and it's a friend calling to see how you are doing, they know you are trying to find a job and are overwhelmed by the lack of response or rejection. As you begin with your monologue you are interrupted mid-sentence with "That's great, so I was..." and your monologue has come to an end. You listen to the talking, the rhetorical questions peppered with more talking.

It is then one begins to wonder if anyone listens, truly listens anymore. Are we so absorbed by our thoughts and what we want to say that we forget to listen? How well do you listen?

I am learning to listen. I am learning to absorb the sounds of the morning as I go on my walk, the birds singing to each other, the bus trundling down the hill and the neighborhood dogs barking as I walk by their castle. I am learning to focus on conversations without having my mind wonder to what my monologue will consist of. I am learning that everyone has a need to vent and to process things as they talk.

I have learned that by listening more I don't have to remove my foot from my mouth that often.