聽 (Listen)

Listen, luisteren, zuhören, écouter, ascoltare, escuchar, Harkje…

Whatever language you say it, listening can be complicated. The Chinese (Cantonese) character “to listen” perfectly describes that.

Ear, king, ten, four, one, heart—these individual characters make up the character “to listen”. Let’s break that into bite-sized pieces.

You need to use your ears to capture the sounds and words; you must be like a king listening to his subjects. You must think and reflect when you listen, hence the numbers. Finally, listen with your heart.

In times where ignorance seems to be everywhere, we need to remember how to listen: Listen to break down barriers of ignorance, listen to understand, listen to enlighten.

Copyright© 2020 by Desmond Poon