Creativity Challenge! #2
If you're feeling a bit blocked up, or rather like you're 'stuck-in-a-rut,' you might consider shaking things up to get different results.
I've started a series of ideas and tasks you can try to break up the monotony and stimulate your mental acuity. Check out today's...
Creativity Challenge #2:
The Sound of Silence
This one came to me out of nowhere.. I think my kids had been playing when I wandered downstairs. They had apparently had an argument and when I showed up they looked to me to mediate. Both of them ran up to me to simultaneously expunge their own side of the story. It was impossible to make heads from tails with both of them rattling off at the same time. And I realized, this, and also their disagreement could be conciliated with the simple act of listening more.
And so, today's challenge is:
Yup, easier said than done.. haha! But I think that we can all benefit from resisting the urge to blabber meaninglessly at every drop of the hat. I find that most of the time we (myself included) are usually only waiting our turn to speak.. which means we are thinking about what WE want to say, and that restricts us from truly LISTENING to what is being said to us. As Hugh Prather said “No matter what we talk about, we are talking about ourselves.”
By going a day without speaking, you will find that you become hyper-observant.. your brain will immediately be engaged and tested. You will have to think of unique ways to express yourself and to communicate with others. You might find yourself tempted to avoid everyone and all things for the whole day, but try your best to pick a 'normal day' to do the challenge.
Clear it with your friends and love ones first if you need to. There might be times where you slip up.. or where you will be required to vocalize.. that's fine, but quickly revert back to silence when you're finished and take time to reflect on what words you used to say what you needed to say..
We often don't truly listen We scarcely think when we speak, and we rarely appreciate the value of the words we use when we do so.. This challenge will bring these aspects into focus. You might even find some other benefits or unintended side effects of taking a vow of silence for 24 hours.
These are graceful and admirable :-)
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