Worth a Listen

Oh, the overwhelming confrontation with an overflowing email inbox. I have not been away that long, but there are hundreds of them. I want to delete them all, that’s the truth, but might I miss what matters? (And what is what matters, truly?)

Yesterday I declutter with an icy check mark, except I leave Krista Tippett’s OnBeing podcast email. I love her in principle, but in reality, often too many words for me to grasp. I can attend to Pádraig Ó Tuama and Poetry Unbound almost every time; perhaps it’s the lilt of his Irish cadence, but Krista…not so much.

I don’t delete Krista this time because she’s talking with Kate DiCamillo—and Kate has my heart. I am not alone—she holds many hearts. So I listen, notebook open, pen in hand, but for the 50 minutes, I listen, no other windows open, no breakfast preparation, my coffee turning tepid. And it is not difficult.

I do take notes, and rue my inability to sketch as a response to what I hear (@hardltanartist knows how!). Kate speaks to this even, how her world includes pictures in stories because they, too, like animals, provide, “a shortcut to the human heart.”

At several points in the conversation, tears prickle, at several laughter erupts, at several I ponder and truthfully, run my tiny counter narrative “but.” But, I come away thoughtful and heartened and hopeful. I hope you’ll take the gift of these 50 minutes for yourself—even if it’s while you’re making a salad for dinner.