My Favorite Audio Lately

I love talking to people about podcasts they enjoy. I’ve got some favorites too.

And whether it’s a great podcast, a great audiobook, or great music, there’s so much great stuff to listen to!

Listening while driving. Listening while walking. Listening while working. Listening while cleaning. Listening while cutting the grass. Listening while lying in bed.

My absolute favorite audio lately? No audio at all.

No podcast at all. No audiobook at all. No music at all.

When I want to really taste something I’m eating, I close my eyes. Suspending my visual sensory input magnifies the flavor. It’s incredible, try it out!

So when I’m driving, even though there’s plenty of great things to listen to, I’m finding that my favorite thing to listen to lately is nothing at all.

My God, the details in the universe around us! Yes to waking up to more to them!

Sometimes I’m compelled to listen to anything at all, just anything…and especially then I keep the audio off. Instead, I turn my listening within…

What is it within me that’s craving that distraction?

What is it within me that I’m so unwilling to sit with?

THAT’S what I’m giving my attention to - The feel of that part of me. The shape of that part of me. The history of that part of me. The depth of that part of me.

Yes it’s uncomfortable! But it’s no less beautiful or insightful because it’s uncomfortable.

Yes it can seem boring! But that’s only because we’re not trained in the arts of curiosity and wonder as much as we could be.

This isn’t a post against audio! This is a post for intentional quiet time. 

Have you noticed how much our teens (and friends, and colleagues, and we ourselves!) can sit on social media watching the endless streams of reels and images? 

Many of us were living so distractedly well before smartphones - with tv and radio always playing in the background. 

And there’s nothing wrong with distracting ourselves. It’s just that, well, we might often find more of what we’re really looking for in the silence. 

I still listen to audio. I’m just doing it much more consciously these days.

I invite you to consider doing the same. ❤️ 

“All of humanity's problems stem from man's [unwillingness] to sit quietly in a room alone.”

- Blaise Pascal

“Silence is the language of God, all else is poor translation.”

- Rumi

“Settle yourself in solitude and you will come upon Him in yourself.”

- St. Teresa of Ávila

“Few things under heaven are as instructive as the lessons of silence.”

- Tao Te Ching

“In silence there is eloquence. Stop weaving and see how the pattern improves.”

- Rumi

“Never lose a holy curiosity.”

- Einstein 

Lulled Into Unconsciousness

Last week I had a daily assignment: I explored my experience.

When my hourly alarm went off, I took a moment to experience. 

I looked at what I was looking at. 

I felt what I was feeling.

I experienced what I was noticing, either outside or inside myself.

I described the experience to myself, then I took a moment to simply experience it.

Tasting food. 

Seeing color.

Feeling an emotion.

So much detail. 

In fact, there’s infinite detail in all directions.

But do I notice it? Do you? 

If I’m not generally present to my actual experience, then what am I mostly present to?

Concepts.

Mostly, you and I aren’t present to our experience, we’re present to the concepts of our experience.

The stories. The judgments. The meaning. The significance. 

Here’s something the lasting spiritual practices of the world have in common: wake up, heaven is among us.

We spend our time griping, and we miss the beauty. 

We spend our time stressing, and we miss the grace.

We spend our time longing for what’s to come, and we miss the gift of Now.

We spend our time defending, gossiping, or plotting, and we miss the sacredness of human being.

Conceptualizing our lives is how we're lulled into unconsciousness.

Conceptualizing is a powerful capability of the human mind, but it's not the only tool available to us. Experiencing is another.

What are you experiencing, right now?

Getting present to what’s so is always a critical and valuable access to living into what’s possible.

Much Love. ❤️

The Breakdown Snooze Button

We live in the age of distraction. 

Never before has it been so easy to distract ourselves. To sedate ourselves. To snooze the feelings and thinking that we just don’t know how to deal with.

So we hit that snooze button in the various ways we can: social media, netflix, alcohol, and mary jane. 

The alarm goes off, and we hit the snooze button. But the snooze is temporary. The alarm will just pop back on in a little while. 

Resisting our emotions. Judging ourselves and the people in our lives. Dulling our thinking and feeling. 

We’re trying to sedate and control our discomfort because we never learned a healthier way. 

I was having a conversation with a client today, and a powerful shift in her life has been her growing ability and willingness to take a pause and slow down.

She described the impact of that powerfully: it gives her room to make a choice about how she’d like to respond.

Hitting the snooze button on our discomfort and judgment isn’t a choice - it’s a reaction. 

Our reactions are based on fear and insecurity.

On the other hand, our responses are based on discernment and intentionality.

The alternative to reacting or hitting the snooze button? Slow down. Breathe. Feel it out. Notice what’s happening inside. Get in touch with your values, desires, and intentions. 

Most days, I have an hourly timer set on my watch to remind me to take a moment and ground myself in intentional thinking and being. For much of the last month, my hourly question was this:

What do I want really want, right now?

I don’t want to hit the snooze button. I want to integrate, heal, and grow.

I don’t want to react. I want to pause, respect, and interact from understanding and compassion. 

I don’t want to rush. I want to enjoy each moment in any one of the infinite ways available. 

I don’t want to fear. I want peace. 

I don’t want to guard. I want to give. 

I don’t want to judge. I want to love.

When I hit the snooze button of distraction, I’m not leaning towards what I really want. I’m leaning away from what I don’t want.

A life lived leaning away from what I don’t want isn’t a life I want to live. I want to lean towards what I really want.

I’m committed to leaning in. That means I’ve gotta get my butt out of bed and engage directly with my life.

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.

Don't go back to sleep.

You must ask for what you really want.

Don't go back to sleep.

People are going back and forth

across the doorsill

where the two worlds touch.

The door is round and open.

Don't go back to sleep.

Don't Go Back to Sleep, by Rumi

Much Love. ❤️