Cultivating Indifference

“You have two ears and one mouth, so listen twice as much as you speak.” My father recited this proverb to me more than a few times as I was growing up (Along with the snarky, “Children should be never heard and rarely seen.”). I can’t say that I fully heeded his lesson: I make a living by speaking, writing, and spouting words.

Yet, some of his wisdom has stuck with me. I’m learning how to say less and listen more; to value the quiet and cherish silence; and I’m learning that I don’t have to have a protracted opinion on every single issue – religious, social, political, or otherwise.

Everybody is an expert on everything, it appears these days, and they must tell the world. Give it a few more years and the majority of the population will be writing opinion pieces on “Drudge,” the “Huffington Post” or every…