#monali_p

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a word of thanks...

We of 7squared appreciate all who embarked with us on our two week journey of intentional, deep listening. A special note of thanks to everyone who reblogged our posts; contributed a poem, video or photo; or just told their friends about a sound they heard.

While our first 2 iterations (weeks) are now complete, we continue to invite you to presence the world around you.

Why is it so noisy? Is it hard to listen?

We invite you to unplug, go outside, and listen, intently; for 7 minutes, for 7 days.

In silent service,

BubbleBen maryantics monali_p psound74 

What do you hear?

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"True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment."

- William Penn

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#1 for Day 1: (courtesy of Arina Nikitina's blog article):

Silence provides inner peace.

"Can you remember the last time you sat in silence and heard the sound of your breathing and felt the stillness of your soul? Moments like these are rare, but we need them, like water or like the air that we breathe. Take a few minutes a day to quieten your mind, let go of all the insignificant issues that you can not control and just allow yourself to let be. Feel inner peace washing through your body. Feel the healing benefits of silence."

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We live in a noisy world! What I heard this morning as I waited for the bus.

As I cannot upload my video via my Android (the 3G network is not cooperating), I will do my best to describe the sounds this morning as I sat outside while waiting for the bus.

LOUD. Not a chance to quiet my thoughts. Granted, I was on the Aurora highway, so there were cars aplenty. I watched them whizz by, in silence. Others waited for the bus, but no one was on the phone or talking. The combination of the wind, and fast cars made it impossible to quiet my mind. Closing my eyes amplified the sounds.

5 minutes into it, I wasn't as bothered...repetitive sounds, even if they are not musically pleasing, are more easy to absorb and get used to. Some say they can be meditative, but I would not count a loud highway on a cold morning to be so. Repetitive sounds can be numbing, but are effective at drowning out everything else. Strange, but that was my observation.

For a few days now I have been capturing the leaves under my feet, airplanes in the sky, and the wind, rain and cars. I'm missing more delicate sounds of nature in this city that I live in. Perhaps a hike to quiet pastures will be in order this weekend.

monali_p

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So many places to put info, so little time...

One thing we're learning about the toolkit of the social web is that there are many places and ways to remind, collect information and experiences, and offer status updates.

We're still working on it, but this (tumblr) is looking like our main platform; stay tuned!

YOU can submit your experiences with 7squared listening here! (There are limitations on video not being over 5 minutes per day and/or 100Mb a file; only one audio file a day, so the four of us will be "moderating" a little bit.)

And who are we, you might ask?

The Lucky 7's are (left to right):

BubbleBen = Ben Drury

maryantics = MaryAnn McNulty

monali_p = Monali Patel

psound74 = patrick t. rost

We are all attending Bainbridge Graduate Institute, working towards an MBA in Sustainable Enterprise. Welcome to our humble little social change project.

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