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