P R E S E N C E
that
WAS
MY
WORD
for 2018. . .
I’m not much of a goal setter
or a goal getter
so much as
D O ‘ E R. . .
Why waste a sheet of paper writing down
and checking it twice
when you can imagine it
C R E A T E
make it happen on the fly
IF. . .IF. . .IF. . .IF. . .IF. . .IF. . .IF. IF. . .IF. . .
YOU WILL ACTUALLY DO IT. . .
P R E S E N C E
has served me well
so well
I could/should have a
RE-DO
and probably could ride it out for the rest of decade
and past
B U T
I thought reaching for a new
W O R D
like I do each year would not only help me. . .
but also those I attempt to serve;
H E N C E
the new word for
2 0 1 9
in a
w o r d :
L I S T E N
Y U P
My word of the year is
l i s t e n. . .
It’s one of those words whose meaning is in its music.
Listen is a quiet word,
that half swallowed L
and diffident I
and softly hissing S. . .
It defies the clamorous words it absorbs,
the words that have defined this year,
the shouts and roars,
the bray and bluster. . .
Listening is hard when the sounds around us grow mean and ugly.
And listening takes particular courage in divisive times.
“Courage is not just about standing up for what you believe,” Doug Elmendorf tells his students at Harvard. “Sometimes courage is about sitting down and listening to what you may not initially believe.”
Which is not to say that if we all just listened more,
our wounds would heal
our conflicts end
our lives would actually change
on an inner and outer level. . .
Nor does it mean abandoning our values;
it’s a strategic reminder of the value of humility.
“It’s always wise to seek the truth in our opponents’ error, and the error in our own truth,” theologian Reinhold Niebuhr said. Listening, closely and bravely, to an opposing view deepens our insight and sharpens our arguments—especially in our public life.
It’s long past time that we quiet our animal spirits. . .
Our fierce public battles,
political fights that have infected our friendships
and family,
have degraded our discourse,
defaced institutions,
disturbed our peace. . .
Actually it’s way past
and before
2019
to LISTEN
not to reply
but to hear. . .
So. . .
L I S T E N
is my word for the year. . .
but I’m willing to
S H A R E;
Work for you. . . ?
Dare we. . .
DARE WE
L I S T E N
t o g e t h e r
t o
e a c h o t h e r. . . ?
let’s listen. . .
Invite surprise. . .
Invest in subtlety. . .
And surrender to silence once in a while. . .
at the expense of
hearing
another
s o u n d l y. . .
i n t e n t l y
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