Stillness
The difference between being quiet and listening
It is possible to sit in complete silence and never really listen.
I've done it many times.
The room is quiet. The phone is switched off. Outwardly everything looks peaceful.
But inside, the conversation carries on.
Planning.
Remembering.
Judging.
Rehearsing.
Stillness isn't simply the absence of noise.
It's the willingness to stay with whatever is here, without rushing to change it.
I've come to realise that listening asks something different of us than silence.
Listening requires relationship.
It asks us to become curious rather than controlling.
To soften rather than strive.
Sometimes the most important thing we hear isn't a great insight or a profound revelation.
It's simply ourselves.
And perhaps that's where every meaningful conversation begins.