The DAILY SPARK Blog

WAYS TO LISTEN:Listening TO: listening to contentListening FOR:  what are you listening for...  your agenda proof you are right and they align with your viewpointproof they are wrong and you are gathering ammunition to fight backListening FROM: How are you listening? From ...curiosity  wanting to understand a different viewpointlearningcompassiongenuine interestThoughts and reflection from COMMUNE podcast with Jeff Krasno with Justin MIchael Williams REFLECTION:Reflect on a recent "charged" conversation.   Were you listening TO, FOR, FROM?Is there a "courageous conversation" you need to have?  How do you want to listen?Is there a strained relationship that could benefit from a new way of listening?  Think about how you might listen Practice really listening and see what happens.  Let me know how it goes!

When our brain registers that we are stuck in some way... telling ourselves a story -  Oh you're bad, you're failing, something is wrong with you.  Or when we notice we are stuck in a familiar anxious feeling... or resorting to an addictive behavior that we know numbs us... if we pause, create space for the feeling , we can begin to break out of this trance.  This sacred act of pause can support you in dismantling the habits that create suffering.Pause and change that pattern.Paraphrased from a podcast by Tara Brach -Tara Brach is an American psychologist, author, and proponent of Buddhist meditation. She is a guiding teacher and founder of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, D.C. REFLECTION:What story are you telling yourself?Is it positive or negative?Is it a repeating pattern?Next time you are overcome with negative thoughts or anxiety, pause.  Try it, it works!

In the beginning of the creation of the world, something happened and the original light of the universe was shattered into countless pieces.  They lodged as shards inside every aspect of creation.  And the highest human calling is to look for this light, to point at it when we see it, to gather it up, to see it reflected, to pay attention to it and in so doing, we repair the world.  This story of creation is often attributed to the Jewish tradition and known as Tikkun Olam.This is a paraphrased from a story written by Rachel Naomi Remen’s book:  MY GRANDFATHER'S BLESSINGS   Stories of Strength, Refuge and BelongingREFLECTION:Each and every living thing (including humans) has a shard of light inside them.  Do you look for this light?What are you doing to see it, point to it, gather it, reflect it, pay attention to it (in self and others)? You can help repair the world by finding the light in self and another. Identify the light in another today and take steps to call it out/reflect it for them.