The World

A question mark, a simple curve and a dot, yet it holds a notable secret. Look closely; aren’t you reminded of an ear? It’s not just a symbol of inquiry, but a mirror of our own hearing, suggesting that understanding begins with listening. Each question we ask, whether spoken aloud or echoing in our minds, is an invitation. An invitation to open ourselves, to admit we don’t have all the answers, that there are whole worlds of stories and perspectives beyond our own. And maybe, just maybe, the more attentively we listen, the more we relate, and the more we relate, the more we understand.

Yes, they say books are our secret palaces where we find answers, but even books, in their essence, are spoken words made permanent, echoes of the voices a writer heard, understood, and transformed. Imagine early humans, before the written word, communicating through sounds and gestures. Even then, listening was paramount. All senses were vital, yet the act of hearing held a unique power.

Somewhere along the way, we’ve lost that attentiveness, that patience. We’ve become distracted, impatient. Those who poured their lives into books, the writers we revere, they did so because they listened. They heard the world around them, the stories whispered in the wind, the cries of the heart. They listened without the filters of our modern distractions. And even those writers who couldn’t hear with their ears, they listened with their minds, to the voices within, to the echoes of their own learning. They heard with a clarity that we, in our ignorance, have forgotten.

We have people around us, their stories, their experiences often unheard, which is such a huge loss of the sense of hearing. However, the idea of listening isn’t necessarily about listening to others only.

Anyways, these days the whole dimension of hearing is being capitalized. But the opportunity is still relevant, and it is time to open your eyes to the question marks on either side of your eyes.

Do you get my point?