Working for your voice

Today I went to a party and was lucky: a mom was willing to share her two-month old baby boy. He was lovely - bright and alive and so eager to speak.

It's wonderful to watch the joy and intensity of a baby finding his voice. He gathers all of himself into the sounds he makes: you can watch this gathering as his face puckers and his body squirms and then - suddenly - joyously - there's a sound.

This is how we begin. Not with ideas. Not with concepts. With the desire to join the party, a desire expressed in energy that flows through our whole bodies, a desire etched on our faces.

And then - the smile that starts in the eyes and moves through the mouth to squirm its way into a whole being. A smile that begins because someone was listening.

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