“In old notions of growth and development there was always this idea…that somehow we needed something to push against in order to grow. Now there’s almost a feeling that growth should be delivered to us…

“Around us, the forces are not kind in terms of either recognizing, awakening or encouraging beauty. But, actually, this should be the impetus and the spark to do it…

“The question is, when is the last time that you had a great conversation? A conversation which wasn’t just two intersecting monologues, which is what passes for conversation a lot in this culture. But when had you last a conversation in which you overheard yourself saying things that you never knew you knew? That you heard yourself receiving from somebody words that absolutely found places within you that you’d thought you had lost? And a sense of an event of conversation that brought the two of you onto a different plane? And then fourthly, a conversation that continued to sing in your mind for weeks afterward?”

– John O’Donohue

Thank you, Paul, for your excellent timing in sending this along. There are some wonderful jewels interspersed throughout that augment and give unique nuance to many of the themes we’ve explored here, and make the investment of time in listening definitely worthwhile.