The Listening Path by Julia Cameron

Author:Julia Cameron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

* * *

TRY THIS

Try listening for the direction your heart is leading you. Ask your heart for guidance, and jot down the guidance you are receiving. Is it different from your head’s intellectual direction? Where does it point you? Listening to our inner guidance, the voice of our heart, we are led in the “right direction.”

* * *

LETTING OTHERS SPEAK

The coffeemaker is bubbling and hissing, a demonic sound. I am making a midday pot of French roast coffee. I have just worked out with my trainer, and she told me a story from a book she was listening to. The narrator was a dog, and when asked what he would do if he suddenly became human, the dog replied, “I would listen. Humans don’t listen.”

It’s true that Lily hears visitors before I do. If someone opens the courtyard gate, Lily races to the glass-paneled sliding door and peers out. If it’s someone she likes, she yips excitedly. She has a particular fondness for two of my helpers: Juanita, my housekeeper, who has three dogs of her own, and Anthony, a skilled handyman, who treasures his fourteen-year-old pit bull. When I open the door to them, Lily leaps for joy. Rather than race outside, she hovers nearby and escorts them in.

“Hello, girl, you love me, or perhaps you love my dogs,” Juanita exclaims.

“Hello, baby, you love me,” croons Anthony.

It’s true. Lily rears on her hind legs, placing her front paws on his thighs. She woofs eagerly. The only time she displays such excitement with me is when I feed her a slice of gravlax. “Lily, salmon, treat,” I chant, and that causes happiness. This afternoon Lily is ecstatic. Her beloved Anthony is here. He is weatherproofing the garage, which has sprung a leak, and he works carefully and diligently to stop it.

“If it doesn’t rain tomorrow, I’ll bring a garden hose the next day and wet the roof to test it,” Anthony explains. He is a meticulous worker, taking pride in doing his jobs perfectly. Today he has arrived with his wife, Carmella, a raven-haired beauty. He is working Sunday, on his day off, and she has come along to keep him company. They work together, an efficient and joyful team, for three and a half hours. Coffee brewed, I offer them each a cup. Carmella accepts, pausing at the kitchen sink to rinse off any lingering grime.

Seated in my dining room, she admires my crystal chandelier. “It’s so pretty,” she exclaims. Sipping at her coffee, she asks what I am writing now.

“A book on listening,” I tell her.

“Listening is so important,” she exclaims. She elaborates. “For ten years now, I have worked at a high-end jewelry shop. We mainly sell diamonds. I have learned that women usually know just what they want. If you listen, they will tell you in detail. I have learned to let them speak. There’s no point in showing them the turquoise if a diamond is what they’re after.” Carmella smiles. A beautiful woman, she is; even more beautiful when she smiles.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.