Amy Martin: It's a cloudy Amy Martin: December evening. Amy Martin: It's getting dark, fast. Amy Martin: And Amy Martin: I'm next to Rattlesnake Creek Amy Martin: outside of Missoula, Montana. Amy Martin: And Amy Martin: this is what we call a quiet Amy Martin: place. Amy Martin: And it's really not that quiet Amy Martin: because the creek Amy Martin: is rushing along.
Amy Martin: This is partly why Amy Martin: I wanted to do a whole season Amy Martin: about listening is that Amy Martin: when we actually start to Amy Martin: listen Amy Martin: places or Amy Martin: creatures or Amy Martin: plants Amy Martin: that we consider to be quiet Amy Martin: or silent even, Amy Martin: it turns out they have voices. Amy Martin: They're talking.
Amy Martin: They have things to say Amy Martin: and so Amy Martin: often what we Amy Martin: define as a quiet Amy Martin: place is really just Amy Martin: a place we haven't listened to Amy Martin: very well yet. Amy Martin: I think often what we mean is Amy Martin: just a place where we're not Amy Martin: intruding with our sound. Amy Martin: It's not that the place Amy Martin: is quiet. It's that I'm quiet Amy Martin: in the place.
Amy Martin: Quiet enough that I can Amy Martin: actually hear it. Amy Martin: And I Amy Martin: actually brought a book out Amy Martin: here with me. Amy Martin: It's by Tich Nhat Hanh. Amy Martin: And it's Amy Martin: called Silence: Amy Martin: The Power of Quiet in a World Amy Martin: Full of Noise. Amy Martin: And the whole book is Amy Martin: phenomenal. Amy Martin: I highly recommend it, but um, Amy Martin: here's the first few paragraphs.
Amy Martin: We spend a lot of time looking Amy Martin: for happiness when the world Amy Martin: right around us is full Amy Martin: of wonder. Amy Martin: To be alive and walk on the Amy Martin: earth is a miracle. Amy Martin: And yet most of us are running Amy Martin: as if there were some better Amy Martin: place to get to. Amy Martin: There's beauty calling to us Amy Martin: every day, every hour. Amy Martin: But we are rarely in a position Amy Martin: to listen.
Amy Martin: The basic condition for us to Amy Martin: be able to hear the call of Amy Martin: beauty and respond to it Amy Martin: is silence. Amy Martin: If we don't have silence in Amy Martin: ourselves, if our Amy Martin: mind, our body are full Amy Martin: of noise, Amy Martin: then we can't hear beauty's Amy Martin: call. Amy Martin: So it's time for us to actually Amy Martin: get a little quiet ourselves on Amy Martin: the podcast feed.
Amy Martin: We're going to take a break, Amy Martin: take a deep breath, encourage Amy Martin: you to do the same. Amy Martin: We will be back with Amy Martin: a lot more episodes, Amy Martin: like a lot more. Amy Martin: But we're going to press Amy Martin: pause for a minute.
Amy Martin: If you have any questions for Amy Martin: us about how we're Amy Martin: making this season or anything Amy Martin: you've heard on the season or Amy Martin: anything at all really, Amy Martin: send them to us. Amy Martin: We're going to do an Ask Me Amy Martin: Anything episode soon and Amy Martin: your questions are going to be Amy Martin: the heart of that episode.
Amy Martin: So send any questions Amy Martin: you may have to outreach@ Amy Martin: thresholdpodcast.org, Amy Martin: and we'll do our best to answer Amy Martin: them in that episode Amy Martin: and enjoy some quiet. Amy Martin: Thanks for listening.