Tag: Listen

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No Matter Where I GO, There I AM…

On By fawncaveneyLeave a comment

It has been way too long since I shared words upon this page. Sometimes I give in to the calling for a quiet hiatus, pausing to reflect, feel, explore and just BE. Often in this crazy world we forget what Just BEing can feel like. It seems to be ingrained into our personal psyche that if we are not DOing we must BE failing. I completely disagree!

The chaotic zoom of the world even in these times of COVID, incessantly taps on us like a crow pecking on a scavenged dirty cracker found upon a sidewalk. Over time we have become immune to such bombardment, calloused to the dings upon our “lifeblood” phone, the small inanimate object we take everywhere. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, the list continues to expand. I am not against technology, I am actually very grateful for how it has kept my scattered family connected during these isolated times. As a writer at heart, I love coming to the page to dance with my muse, leaving behind the typewriter white out and loud din of pecking on the keys. WhatsApp delights me, for I am free to communicate when I want, for as long as I desire and in whatever format I feel like engaging in – audio, images, video, all of this at my fingertips, literally.

BEing graces our soul with the opportunity to express and enlighten our journey back home to the self…

Just BEing, seems to be a forgotten playmate and lost gift. As a child you engaged with it all the time, for it sparked creative ideas, imaginary scenes and pure bliss. As you grew up, you inhaled the taught (domesticated) expectations, accepting without question that there was only one path to happiness. You pushed aside your precious inspiring playmate to engage with the “to do” list, goal chart, success ladder, asset collecting, bank account and programed paradigms of societal expectations. Now, please understand, I am not against any of the above listed things, matter a fact, I engage in all of them. I ask them to align with me, my dreams, my passions, my priorities and personal desires. It allows me to design my unique empowered path.

During my recent hiatus from this page and my other blog The BEingness Project, I explored more deeply the authentic truth

“And remember, no matter where you go, there you are.”

~ Confucius
Is there truly a wrong or right path? What if all life choices were about exploring the rich diversity of possibility?

As I deeply feel into what I desire for the next phase of life, I give myself permission to squish around the sensations of each idea. As though I am an explorer investigating the textures, smells, sounds and ambiance of a puffy white cloud. Suspended above my purposed next adventure, I take it all in – why, where, who, what… It has been my life experience that we jump like a frog to the next lily pad hoping that it will “fix” our problems, change our situation, or answer our unspoken and unidentified hearts’ desire. While the leaping in and of itself is intoxicating and thrilling, it does not change the reality that wherever you go, there you are. As I play with the soft red clay that forms my life, I give myself the time to unearth the richness or deprivation of each scenario. Does it lift my wings or is it another distraction, an escape route that ultimately leads back to the same dead end cul de sac?

Oh I am poised to jump! All my muscles are taut and ready for my invitation. Delightfully wisdom has started to blossom in full glory, encouraging me to BE, to FEEL, to allow myself the TIME to witness the possibilities as they play out within my heart and soul. What calls me, pulls me towards my song, my story, my sharing…? Cutting away at the puppet strings attached without my knowing, I float in the free fall, trusting the parachute of my own inner GPS guidance. What an exciting time, to stand at the edge of a new horizon, vast, limitless, infinite and grand… The only limitation is that which I put upon myself. Lifting my wings, responding to my poised muscles and heart strings, I set sail. There is no RIGHT or WRONG path, only the knowing that I choose to live a life of no regret. As the astute saying shares, there is no Uhaul that follows us when we pass from this life, thus I wish to fill the coffers of my time here with vapor held experiences, rich colors painted upon my heart, breath stopping memories of love and grace, and laughter that carries me home…

Transformation occurs from the inside out, not the outside in…

Thank you for joining me today, I forgot how much fun it is to BE with you 🙏🏻💖. It is my absolute life passion that each and every one of us remembers how to BE, how to hear and feel our heart/soul call. Rising into a life of passion, dreams and desires. When we walk naked on this path of personal truth, we touch and lift all who connect with us along the way!

If you enjoyed this little blog, here are a couple of old posts that invite BEingness into your life ❤️

What is BEingness

Allowing the joyful grace of BEing

How to begin the allowing journey of BEing

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Life Windows

On By fawncaveney3 Comments

If you have been following my novel, click here to catch up or join us.

A window, like life is limited by the parameters we put around it…

What windows do you view life through? What have been the vistas to raise you? What scenes have unfolded outside and inside those windowed rooms?

During this time in my life I find myself doing a lot of walking. I have always loved to walk, it is another way I meditate, ground myself, sort through life and feel natures balm.

As I shared recently I have moved into a small studio at the top of an old Historical home. I get to watch the dance of life through my large bay window, that is and of itself an art piece. I enjoy observing the play of light, listening to the sounds from the sidewalk and street. Yesterday I observed Halloween unfolding all around me.

The other night as I roamed my beautiful neighborhood, glancing at homes, watching squirrels scurry in frenetic winter prep and peeking into the clear glass frames, I reflected on all the life windows I have lived through.

As a young child I remember the neighborhood of matching homes, we all looked exactly the same from the outside. Sandwiched into college married housing I danced in the small living room viewing the diverse people and parking lot outside my home. We moved a lot in my young years, so I examined the world through many windows. Daycare, car, bus, home, windows everywhere….

As I played out the diverse windows of my life, I marveled at how many. Life is full of windows – what do we see and feel when we look out, as we look in?

Looking out, looking in, the view is merely an interpretation of what we choose to see…

At times windows have made me feel connected to the world around me. Living tucked in nature I loved hearing, feeling, smelling and seeing the world outside my little solo window. The Whipperwill sang me to sleep, the red pine whispered the secrets of life, and the breezes shared intimate stories of oncoming change. Those outside my window peering in, watched me sing and dance, cry in loss, stomp in anger, sit lost in my aloneness, write and read, all in an attempt to know who I am in life’s window.

At other times windows have made me feel alone, separate from the world around me. Looking out I take in the interactions between people, I listen to laughter, children playing, football games, cars, planes, yet, here I sit isolated and quiet. I know I can go out and become a part of it all. Sometimes I do. While often I prefer to observe.

Sometimes we cannot see out, see in, blinded, shuttered, covered by life, or above our ability to view, life’s windows invite…

At this poignant crossroads in life I find myself reflecting on life’s windows. I am taking the time to really scrutinize the scene, looking beyond the glass and flowing curtains. Who am I in this mix? What do I choose to experience, share, be an active participant in…?

I have taken in the view from so many work windows, many of them felt like they had bars to keep me in. I would look out counting the hours until I was on the other side. As I chew on this raw truth, I smile, for all those windows helped to raise me, make me who I am today, gave me diverse experiences, taught me to persevere and choose myself.

I am grateful for the kaleidoscope of windows that has thus far graced my life. I wonder with curiosity what windows await me. What aspects of life will I get to witness? What vistas will fill my senses with joy, invite and beckon me to more? What will happen on the other side, when I walk into the room with windows, no longer an outsider.

Looking beyond the glass a world unfolds, comes to life, invites and hinders…

I ask you –

  • What windows have touched you the most?
  • What windows felt like bars?
  • What windows do you still wish to look out of?
  • How has the view out your life windows shaped you?

As I stroll past the many windows I smile with knowing that every window has a story. That every person looking out that window sees something different. They come to the window with their own personal journey, thus they can only see with that awareness. As I look at them, I can only imagine who they are, what they know, see and feel. I wonder, as they watch me walk by, what story do they write about me? Who do they observe from their perspective?

To see is to let go of the story, to allow the view to unfold with raw authenticity and wonder…

Life’s Windows let us see out while they help us to see within….

If you would like to join us on an adventure with a magazine that sees, hears and feels – Click Here

I Hear YOU…

On By fawncaveney7 Comments
  • As you read that title, what is your first response?
  • What do you hear your mind say the second you read it?
    • Yeah, sure you hear me!
    • No you don’t! No one really listens anymore.
    • I don’t really share, so how can you hear me.
    • ???

Have you ever noticed how quickly you start to think about what you are going to say to someone who is talking to you? There you stand formulating in your mind what you can say back. What’s the perfect thing to respond? When you do this, are you truly listening, sincerely hearing the person you are with?

If you are a parent, do you really listen to your child, no matter the age, to HEAR what they are sharing? Not just the words they speak, but the body language, the message sent from their eyes, tone, word choice, etc…

What about how you listen to a colleague, spouse/partner, friend, family member, stranger..? Do you listen differently depending on who is talking?

Have you ever noticed how much attention you will give to someone “important and powerful” by societal and cultural standards – yet when your child, friend, family member or co-worker share you only half way tune in? I observe this all the time.

Do you think you fool anyone with regard to your HEARING and Listening skills? People, especially the young and wise elders, KNOW when you are really listening or not. Just watch a baby who has a present or distracted parent. Observe your friend when you really sit and pay attention to their story versus being fidgety to battle for conversation rights. There is an intuitive knowing when someone is truly LISTENING and HEARING YOU.

I have watched and observed this for years and years. Noticing within my own behavior the expansion of my ability to truly HEAR. As I have gotten older and wiser, my ability to HEAR and LISTEN has increased, enriching my life in so many ways.

When I worked in a nursing home, daycare, restaurant, sales rep., customer service specialist, ropes course facilitator and classroom teacher – HEARING was key. Active, Present Listening enriched, expanded and opened all of these professions into glorious opportunities for co-learning and co-growing through genuine heartfelt sharing.

We all crave a safe place to share. The desire to be truly heard is as powerful as the desire to be seen. In the chaos and busyness it is often a challenge to get people to drop into TRUE sharing, however, I have learned that BEing completely present, making eye contact with sincerity and truly Listening opens the flood gates for powerful connection.

I strongly believe that one of the most important gifts I can give myself and others is to HEAR. To Listen with intense complete presence, shutting off my mind chatter. I absolutely LOVE the connection experienced when I truly listen – WOW.., it is intensely powerful. Full of surprises and new understandings.

What if today, you challenged yourself to slow down and really HEAR? What might you learn about your partner/spouse, friend, child, co-worker, etc..? How might you feel as you allow this true connection? What might you learn about yourself and others? Below are a couple of articles that briefly discuss Listening, I thought you might enjoy them.

“What Great Listeners Actually Do” – Harvard Business Review

“The Science of Listening” – Huffpost

Today’s Affirmation:

“I am a good listener, hearing with all of me in complete presence what other’s are sharing with me.”

Today’s Meditation:

Join me for a guided meditation

Today’s “Walking Naked Truth” Practice:

  • Today, slow down with awareness at least three times to truly LISTEN.
  • Notice how it shifts the experience.
  • Today, share at least three times with genuine honest sincerity – creating the energy of true connection.
  • Notice how you feel when you share your truth in vulnerable open presence.