Book review. "The Listening Path" by Julia Cameron.

This is my third book by the author after "The Artist's Way" which I read twice, and "Living the Artist's Way". "The Listening Path" has a lot of similarities with "The Atrist's Way": the structure, the idea, the way of presenting texts, the quotes, and even the place where the quotes are situated, and it's also a so-called guide with tasks for the week. Again, there were three main tools: Morning Pages, Artist Dates, and Walks. Sometimes I felt I was reading "The Artist's Way" again but with a different sense and meaning on a more deeper level.

"When we listen, we pay attention. And the reward for attention is always healing. The listening path brings us healing, insight, and clarity. It brings us joy and perspective. Above all, it brings us connection.

When we listen - really listen - to what others have to say, their insight often inspires us. When we don't interrupt, but wait, allowing our companions to extend a thought instead of rushing to complete it, we learn that we can't in fact anticipate what they will share.

Writing is a form of active listening. Listening tells me what to write. There is an inner voice - that voice speaks to us when we listen. It is clear, calm, and guided."

I resonate perfectly well with this book and almost with all of Julia's insights and ideas, besides some of them that I do not accept or just do not do. But after reading her book I realized that I was on the right path, moreover I have already been an active listener not even reading this book, but because of forced emmigration, refugee status, war, and illnesses that forced me to listen. When I was ill in Kyiv I studied to listen to my body, then to the outer world, then to my Higher Self and Silence. In Germany, I studied to listen to other people, to the environment, to the heroes (the most intelligent people and geniuses of all time and all nations who already died). For me the most difficult was to listen to Silence and Higher Self, now I am much more comfortable with this practice.

Julia's book includes 6 weeks, each of which describes another facade of listening:

• Listening to Our Environment.

• Listening to Others.

• Listening to Our Higher Self.

• Listening Beyond the Veil.

• Listening to the Veil.

• Listening to Silence.

Either you are reading and practicing "The Listening Path", or you are practicing Listening on your own because of life challenges it does not matter, matters only one fact - to LISTEN. Listening will help you not only to become a better communicator, speaker, writer, etc., but first of all, a better human being.