Take time to listen

What happens when you don’t listen? You will not learn. You will not learn new skills. You will not learn new paths or ways. You will not learn about troubles that might be brewing in your relationship, in your society and all around the globe.So much of art is about projecting what you pick from your surroundings. You can never do this until you learn to listen.

What happens if the people in power do not listen? History has proven time and time again that the leaders who do not listen to their own people, sooner or later will be over thrown. Unfortunately this rarely is a peaceful event. I listen and I can hear a rumble from the hardworking normal people, who are starting to feel the divide growing between them and the people in charge.

I talked before about the power of internet and how it has connected most of us on this planet. Through this powerful media we can express opinions, tell our stories and most of all listen. Listen to the people in our society, who we would not normally associate with. Listen to the people on the other side of the globe. Only twenty years ago, this would not have been possible.

The scary part is, that the people in power and in charge of the wealth have not all adjusted to the new world. You see there were always people in high places whose moral compass might have been bit messed up. But twenty years ago it was much easier to hide their “business” if you had the money. Also if you were someone who wanted to expose them, it would have been much harder to get the word out. The cracks are starting to show, and they can’t get away with it the same way they did in the past.

It is not the case that people are just better educated. If you go to school, college or university, rarely are you encouraged to question things. You are encouraged to learn the way the curriculum dictates. So I am sorry if I express here my doubts on the value of education system as the only way of learning. The thing is that with the internet, many of us have become better self-educated, and we have learned to question things.

These are some of the reasons the people in power are scared and try to desperately control our access to the information. In fact we all know now that governments all around the globe spy on their own citizens online activity, some cases even their neighbour countries online activity. All of this is not because we are scared of another imminent terrorist attack, but because they are scared of their blood sucking greed being exposed.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not against someone making a lot more money than others. I am against the people who do it in a morally fucked up way. I am against those who benefit by stealing countries of their natural resources. I am against those who benefit from getting people hooked up on products that are clearly bad for their health. I am against those who sell us blatant lies. And I am against those who pretend to help others, but do not listen.

If we take the time to listen, truly listen, we might just be able to prevent the world escalating in to yet another conflict. If instead of shouting out our views, we take a deep breath and listen for a change. I know I am far away from getting everyone to do it, but if even one person does it, there is hope. And that one person I am asking to listen is you. Listen to the world around you, listen to your loved ones, strangers in a bar, or a queue in a coffee shop. Listen not only to what’s being said, but also what’s not being said. Listen to the sounds of nature, or a busy city. Listen to he music. By its nature, music can be only enjoyed if you listen. Don’t just use music to drown out noise, but actually take time to listen to it. It will train your ears to become a better listener.

If we can change this one thing within us, if we can learn to listen, then maybe, just maybe we could spread it to our friends and families and one by one make this beautiful world of ours just a little bit better place.

J.P.

The author J.P. Kallio is a singer songwriter
To get EIGHT of his songs for free go HERE