My grandfather used to tell me this as a child. He grew up in an Amish household and held these words as gospel. Whenever I would get so caught up in the moment with excitement, happiness or even frustration, he would say these very simple words to me,”Two ears, one mouth, listen, listen, speak.”

At this time of year, with all the hustle and bustle, it is easy to get so excited as to get caught up in the moment and become insensitive to others who may not be as fortunate or who may just need an ear. Seems, we are sometimes not really listening to surroundings. Artists are, after all, the movers and shakers in our culture and we grow through our ability to listen to what is going on around us and turning this knowledge to make something fantastic. This holiday season lets try to do more listening before we speak, we may just stumble upon that gift that leads us to that next great step.