There's an old saying, "Curiosity killed the cat," and I am thinking about that this morning.  Seems asking questions and wondering about life has been one of my favorite past times this life time.  I find it fascinating how people act and react to life, how they interpret life experiences and how they choose to see the world in which they live.  I find it absolutely amazing how two people can watch the same speech on TV and hear completely different messages.  Same words, same intonations, same visual expressions, same body language viewed by both and yet the interpretations each person "hears" and observes may be completely opposite each other's.  Is that interesting or what?  So, I ask myself how is such a thing possible?  And how do we not get into judgments about how the event is interpreted? Or when it comes down to "bare bones," who's interpretation is accurate?  If you know how to figure this one out, please let me know.  Much like the cat, I am very curious about many things; and I respect everyone has their own unique way of "hearing" things; guess my wish is no one's point of view be "killed" or "put down" just because someone else "heard" (or interpreted it) differently. I'd prefer each person learn something they hadn't considered and keep an open space for something new to emerge.  Seems compassion is developed by keeping an open heart and mind!  This only happens when we are willing to really "listen" with more then our ears! Wouldn't it be positively marvelous to use such gentleness to reach a mutual understanding; rather then the heavy energy generally emitted when someone is trying to proof you "wrong?" Somewhere, in the respect of listening and speaking is the purr of a contented cat!