This past week I was asking for insight around the words hearing and listening.  I woke up one morning to information that helped me see deeper into those words.

Think about listening to the music playing in your car as you drive. Can you ‘hear’ the music?  As you hear the music…now can you ‘listen’ to the beat?  The words listen and hear can be interchanged – Can you ‘listen’ to the music?  As you listen…can you ‘hear’ the beat?

When you listen, it can be like you are consciously hearing the music and then you tune into or ‘listen’ to another aspect of the music which may be the beat of the song or even the lyrics.  There may be times when music is playing in the background and all of a sudden you realize one of your favorite songs is playing.   Becoming aware of the song can be like bringing the background music forward into your conscious mind!

Let’s take this a little further…you are in a conversation with someone.  They are talking about how they work with someone who is never on time for anything they do!  As you ‘listen’ to what they are saying, what do you ‘hear’ during the conversation?  What do you ‘hear’ after they are done talking?  Do you maybe hear yourself saying, ‘I hope they don’t think I’m never on time.’  Maybe you hear yourself saying, ‘I wonder who that person is…sounds like someone I know.’

When people are speaking in general, you listen for what?  Consider this…there may be people you are hearing share something…it may be about something you aren’t interested in…or about someone you don’t like…are you listening to what is being spoken or are you listening for things to ‘justify’ why you don’t like this person in the first place?

Then there may be people you just love listening to!  People who speak about things you love to hear…and you want to hear more.  When this happens to you…notice how you can be so present in the conversation.  Present in ways you may not be when you don’t like the person who is speaking…or when you don’t want to hear what they have to say.

What is hearing to you?  What is listening to you?  As you set your intention to become aware of what this is for you, your conscious mind will bring things to light for you to learn and grow with.  You may be amazed at how you see the dynamics in conversations.  Play with what it is for you.  Blessings to you always.

Sheila Unique