Listening and Calling

So much of life’s noise comes from expectations — what we think we should be doing, achieving, or becoming. Yet many people discover purpose not by chasing answers, but by listening.

David Brooks suggests that meaning often emerges when we respond to what quietly calls to us — a need we notice, a concern that lingers, a responsibility we can’t ignore.

Frederick Buechner described calling as the place where our “deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

Listening doesn’t require certainty or dramatic change. It begins with attention — to what draws us, unsettles us, or invites us to show up with care. Sometimes, that’s how direction finds us.