A year of "listening"

31 December 2017: "I've decided to very actively embrace winter in Indiana...So the sky is the color of blank paper and it makes me want to die. But it also means that owls are easier to spot." --Susan, a Reply All listener.

P.J. and Alex, the Reply All hosts, first spoke with Susan a year ago, in their year-end show. She was going through a hard time then and was hoping that 2017 would be better. So for 2017's year-end show, they called her up to check in. The decision she describes above--to embrace what seems harsh and difficult and find beauty or purpose in it--really spoke to me.

You see, in addition to all the usual end-of-the-year brooding I always do, I've been thinking about this blog and the "listening" theme (which culminates with this post). Three-hundred-sixty-five posts about something interesting I heard each day. What did I learn? What did I gain? What purpose did it serve? I am still working out the answers to all of that--and trying to figure out what to do in 2018 as far as this blog goes. I have enjoyed the ritual of doing something every day, so I will keep that up the best I can.

But back to this post and Susan: I was listening to this episode while taking a freezing cold walk down by the river today. And in addition to thinking about everything above, I was thinking about how different everything looks down there this time of year versus spring or summer. Honestly, I don't like most of it, preferring green trees and such. But there was beauty to be found: a cardinal standing out among the bare branches, a bluebird against the dusting of snow we got yesterday, the drifts of ice on the water. So I was trying to see all of that--trying to see beauty even when there is lots going on internally and externally to bring me down.

And then I heard Susan, whose circumstances sound more challenging than mine (she's living in a cold trailer, for instance)--talk about embracing winter and looking for owls. Like a lot of the posts I've written this year, it was a moment where listening made me feel connected to someone, even someone I don't know and will never know.

Things are tough out there. It's been a rough year. But the "listening" theme made me slow down, look for insight and beauty from others, and remember that we are connected. For all of that, I am grateful.

Tonight I've got some of my favorite people in the world coming over. We'll ring in 2018 together and for that, I am very grateful, too.