Loneliness/Connection

I just read a wonderful line from a David Whyte poem:

All those years
forgetting
how easily
you can belong
to everything
simply by listening.


I wonder if we are losing the art of listening. We long so much for connection with other human beings and mistakenly believe that if others are listening to us, that it will help us feel connected with them. Many human beings go out of their way for attention from others, some in very destructive ways. Some of us simply become disconnected with others because we are burried in our own lives and have forgotten to look outward. We are too busy "speaking" to "listen" to all that is around us.

In reality it is through listening that we gain a feeling of connection with others--and not just listening to words. We can "listen" to others with all of our senses, and with our hearts. As we grow in genuine, loving curiousity toward others and toward the world around us, it will deepen our sense of connection. It is not being alone that makes us lonely, it is lack of connection with the people and the world around us--with it's beauty, mystery, and it's constant changing. We can achieve a sense of connection any time we want to by simply stopping and listening.