Have you ever just listened to … silence?
I thought I knew what silence sounded like. You know – nothing. But there’s a lot going on in all that nothingness.
I’ve just finished reading The Listening Path, Julia Cameron’s newest addition to her “The Artist’s Way” series. I read it with several friends in an online book club organized by Nicole Rivera of the Stop Writing Alone community. She called the club Stop Reading Alone.
This wasn’t my first book club rodeo. But it was one of the first times I actually tried the somewhat woo-woo suggestions we were asked to attempt. I was pleasantly surprised at how everything came together.
While the writing itself leaves much to be desired (Julia’s walks with her dog, Lily, play a primary role in the narrative of the book), the exercises have had a profound impact on me and my mindset. For me, sometimes it felt like I was trying to get through the body of the book just to get to the next “Try This” suggestion. But the gold is in those small gray boxes throughout the book.
Each chapter asks the reader to listen in different ways, from the environment during a walk or the people we share our lives with. Turns out listening involves a heck of a lot more than just hearing stuff.
Listen to the Environment
When I walk, I usually listen to podcasts or an audio book. It was a new experience for me to just listen to my neighborhood. Now, when I stride down our rural road, I notice things that barely registered before — the birds, the wind, the crunch of my shoes on the gravel road, my heavy breathing, cars and trucks on I-70 to the south and US-42 to the north.
And the sounds change as I get further from my house. At one point I can hear the water trickle down the creek that parallels the road. I can’t see it through the brush and trees, but I know it’s there.
Walking has become more than just a way to get out of the house and add to my daily step count. Now, it feels like a meditative experience. It helps clear my head and solve problems — like how should I start that blog post about listening.
Listen to Others
Our next listening opportunity came by actively listening to others, which is a bit more difficult for me. But I’ve learned to try to focus on the other person instead of trying to continue to read, scroll or type while that other person is talking to me. Not only is it rude, but I miss little bits on both sides of the conversation and have to go back and either ask for the person to repeat himself or herself, or I have to reread, rewrite or re-watch whatever I just couldn’t stop doing.
Besides, listening to others includes so much more than just hearing the words they say. I miss out on all those extra details by trying to multi-task.
Listen to Our Higher Selves
Next, Cameron asked us to listen to our higher selves. I don’t know about you, but when I listen to myself, all I hear is a jumble of what I should be doing, my grocery list, my self-talk about how screwed up I am, what I wish I was doing, the dream I had the night before but can’t quite remember completely, reminders to feed the cats and take out the trash, and all that trivial stuff that floats around in my brain like a bouquet of multi-colored balloons. Remember Dug the dog from “Up?” Squirrel! That’s what my brain is like when I try to listen to myself.
But, Cameron wants us to listen to our HIGHER selves. That still, small voice that tells us which way to turn on the path of our lives. Answers to the questions we ask ourselves all the time (Should I commit myself to this one person? Should I quit drinking? Do I really need one more cat?). We really already know the answers to all those questions. Sometimes, though, we must listen, really listen, to finally hear them.
Listen Beyond the Veil and to Our Heroes
Chapters 4 and 5 were probably the most difficult for me. This was when we climbed onboard the woo-woo train. In another book I’m reading, the author encourages readers to put their brackets up, to try the activities just for the sake of trying without thinking about what we believe is and isn’t possible.
When Cameron asked us to Listen Beyond the Veil and to Listen to Our Heroes, she really meant trying to hear from people who have passed on or from folks we admire but may never have met.
I don’t know if any of the exercises worked, but I do believe that at one point I heard my father’s voice in response to a question I asked him. I have no idea what he said, but I truly believe it was him.
And as for my hero, I’ve written in this space about my great grandmother Hettie. I asked her one morning how she made it through all the hardships she faced in her life. I then wrote the words I heard in my mind: wait, rest, care, pray, love, trust and believe. Were those words from Hettie? I have no idea. Did they help me feel better about my own current situation? Yep. Maybe that’s what I was supposed to get out of those exercises. The reassurance that my still small voice was telling me the truth.
Listen to Silence
Then came our opportunity to listen to silence.
You can’t ever get totally silent. I’ve tried noise cancelling headphones. I can still hear the stuff I’m trying to block out. But did you know that a house actually has a voice? That the clocks, appliances and the fish tank harmonize to create some awesome music? That you can hear a cat purr from a room away?
That’s what I learned when I listened to silence.
Did We Miss Anything?
During our final meeting, the members of the book club all questioned why we weren’t asked to listen to animals. Lily, Cameron’s dog, played such an important role throughout the book, it was surprising that the “voices” of some of our closest companions weren’t included in our listening journey.
While I can’t recommend that you read the book, I can suggest you take the time to really listen to what goes on around you. You may find the silence deafening.
Until next week,
Susie from Stix-n-Stonez
5 thoughts on “You Too Can Walk ‘The Listening Path’”
This was the best book review. Thank you for your thoughts. I am going to Incorporate some the exercises you mentioned.
I stayed away from this book because of other experience with her other books
I love your references to the woo woo train. I can hear you saying it too!!!
Thank you, Tammy. I have many of Julia’s books and find some of them a little labor intensive to read. The sentiment and information is so great though!
Your thoughts remind me of Isaiah 30:21, “Whether you turn to the right or left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “this is the way, walk in it”. I think that we hear God’s voice when we have those quiet times of listening.
Absolutely!
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