I was in Vermont for a few days. Every morning I got up at dawn to walk down through the woods to the edge of a frozen lake. There I would wait for the sun to come up and touch the edge of the woods with light. It was very beautiful. Robert Frost wrote a very famous poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. I thought of this poem especially because Frost wrote it in Vermont not far from where I stood. I thought about how much I like to read the poem and how much I do not like listening to Frost read the poem. I don’t like hearing anybody read poems. I like to read them silently. The silence helps me hear the poem better.
Walking in the woods helps me hear other people better. When I go for walks, I usually go alone. I enjoy being alone and in a quiet place. I bring some of that stillness back with me, and it helps me be a better listener. When I listen to another person I don’t have to concentrate to understand them, I just have to be still and listen. Silence in myself helps me hear other people better.
When I am alone I am not alone. Instead of paying attention to myself, I become aware of the wind and the light and the silence and the sounds that are everywhere. The more alone I am the more I become a part of the wind and the light and the silence and the sounds.
What helps you to be a better listener?
Walking in the Woods
