HEARING AND LISTENING-ONE ASPECT OF MINDFULNESS

While walking today, I decided to hear all the sounds and noises in my environment. The song birds singing. The traffic noises with cars speeding and a truck making a loud sound. The red eye plane from the west heading to Pearson Airport made a welcoming noise in the early morning sky. The honking of a Canada Goose that made me divert my walk from the stairs to walking through the parking lot at the Richmond Hill Library. The geese are known to chase people so I was really not in the mood to be chased. My feet making noises as I pounded the pavement. The wind rustling through the trees. Being attentive to the surroundings let ideas and thoughts prevail. The main reason I do not plug into a walkman or I pad or whatever else as they  drown out the world. Listening to the world! One aspect of mindfulness that allows the senses to expand. As we try to find excitement in our life, it can be the small moments that bring some meaning. Hearing and listening to the world, to others, to ourselves- takes concentration and discipline! How mindful are you in your environment? Do you hear and really listen? Or do you try to block out others and the sounds around you?

THE OLD TRUCK

Everyone likes new cars. They smell so good and give the hope of lots of good times to come. Eventually everything becomes old. When you look at this old truck in the Distillary District in Toronto, what stories do you think it brings? It is parked beside one of the buildings and seemed like an interesting picture. My cousin Roy photographed a similar picture to this one on a farm in Manitoba outside Winnipeg. What is it about old vehicles that twigs our interest? Was it moved there or did someone park and not bother to come back?

What do you think?