Seeing and hearing

Sight and hearing being senses, we use them to become aware of what is going on in our environment. This awareness then can be a warning system ~ we can see or hear something that alarms us ~ that can keep us out of trouble. Of course we also use our other senses to that effect; smelling or tasting something; not to forget our sense of touch through which we can feel whether things are right ~ and safe ~ or not.

Yet seeing and hearing stand somewhat apart from the other senses as we use them most often in our every day lives. Hearing sounds ~ something that is almost a continuous thing nowadays ~ and when we want to tune out the sounds of our environment, we start listening to music. And through our sight we get all kinds of input all day long. And when we find nothing much is happening, there is always the TV with 24/7 input…

It begs the question how much of what we are seeing and hearing in any given day in our lives do we truly observe and listen to? In other words, at which point does seeing become observing, or does hearing become listening?

For many things we encounter in life, the casual seeing and hearing is sufficient in order to keep us out of trouble, or even safe. However in personal contact raising our senses a notch to observing and listening can give us a lot more information!

Suddenly there are tone of voice and inflection, there is the choice of words that when truly listened to can tell us more than the actual story being told. And then there is the body language of the other person that let’s us know how that person is feeling about whatever is conveyed or going on…
As soon as we permit ourselves to truly observe and listen to the people ~ but also to our pets, and even to the ‘regular everyday sounds’ ~ around us we become more aware.

More aware of our environment, and more aware of our interaction with that environment. And ultimately more aware of who we are, what we (desire to) do, and what we have to offer to the world around us…

Something else that happens as we permit ourselves to become more aware, is that we start to live more in this very moment ~ rather then living yesterday’s memories, or the things we may be worrying about that might happen tomorrow.
The more acute our senses become, the more aware we become, and the more we are living in that magical moment we call ‘now’.
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