LiSTEN.

Lately, I've been more introspective than usual, and been pondering many things, which have only forced me to conclude that I have so much more to learn about life than I thought I could ever comprehend.

I either think I know what I'm doing or I pretend that I think I know what I'm doing. The fact of the matter is I actually don't know what I'm doing.

I have been seen wearing a heart on my sleeve, which I suppose deflects most from throwing tomatoes at me, but I still fear that I won't be accepted-which sounds absurd, but really, we tend to bend towards the truth that if we feel loved, then, we'll know without a doubt that we can love others without the fear of being hurt.

I have been writing the same word for days. This word would be "LiSTEN." When I started my Master's program, I learned I was the worst listener! But what I learned more than that, was how to listen and I learned to model that listening after a good friend, who had the ability to listen for hours and not shove his way into the conversation, unless it was needed. He taught me what it was like to humble yourself and LiSTEN. Though I paid an arm and a leg for a degree I'm not sure I'll ever use, it was while I was in NY, that I really understood compassion through the ear of my friend, Crispin, who I miss more and more each day, since he left this place on Thanksgiving day to be with the Lord.

All of this reminds me of a saying I heard almost a year ago, "Sometimes we have to take the cotton out of our ears and place it in our mouth, so we can really listen."