Silence and Opportunity

The next Delphic Maxim is Know Your Opportunity. It seems a pretty obvious one, and yet, it’s a lot more difficult to actually suss out when, where, and what kind of opportunities are waiting for us. Opportunity is, in my head, an action word. Opportunity is to be grabbed hold of! Opportunity is not to be missed! Go out and forge some opportunity!

But for me, these last two months, I have had the opportunity to rest. To not do. Don’t seize anything. In fact, let go. Learning about place, learning about nature, involves being silent, not moving, just observing and listening.

It feels like the energy of Earth. Earth, as an element, is often cold, dark, enclosing. Think tomb, womb, hibernation. Of course, earth is also fertile and verdant and changing. Yet, as I sit and observe my garden, the passing of the seasons, the birds, the sky….. all I have to do it sit. Not move. Not talk. I sit in silence.

Of course, I can learn this from my husband, whose most powerful gift is his ability to Listen and create space for other people. Yesterday he had some interesting thoughts. He recognized his gift, and for the first time, took it to heart for the powerful tool that it is. Me, I’m bold and I speak. That is very powerful as well. But we realized that in order for him to embrace his ability to Listen, for it not to be a burden, he needs to learn to Speak. For me, in order for my ability to Speak to be a gift to others and not a liability, I need to learn to Listen.

But I’m sitting in so much silence! My entire practice has been about just sitting! And that’s when the bomb dropped: Silence and listening are not the same thing. They may be two sides of the same coin, but they are not the same.

My opportunity now is to learn to Listen. If I want to evolve, if I want to grow in my power – as a human, mother, partner, friend, priestess, witch, all of it – I must learn to Listen. I can keep silent. I’m good with silence. But listening is something I need to learn to value for its own sake, for the gift that it is, not because I can gather information. I have viewed listening as a way to acquire information for myself; I have not viewed it as a gift that is given.

My opportunity now is to learn to Listen.