Horton Hears a Who

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter won't mind." ~ Dr. Seuss

I happened to be watching American Idol on Wednesday evening, when the cameras showed Jim Carrey sitting in the audience. What made him stand out from the crowd, other than the fact he is a celebrity, was the fact he was wearing an elephant costume. Obviously this was to promote his new movie coming out - "Horton Hears a Who". What I loved about the way he sat in the audience was how completely at ease he was, with his huge elephant feet sticking out in the aisle, his elephant ears bumping into the person next to him... I love the joyful energy he exudes. It seems to me that he is perfectly ok being exactly who he is, wherever he is, regardless of what others might think. He sat there holding the pink clover flower in case he needed to hear what the speck of dust had to say.

I want to go see "Horton Hears a Who", partly to take my two granddaughters to see it, but just as importantly because I want to see it. Horton the Elephant may have some lessons for all of us - lessons about the importance of listening. Horton hears a voice on that very small speck of dust. He keeps that speck of dust safe by placing it gently on a clover. Horton soon discovers that there may be people living on that tiny speck of dust. Horton believes that a person is a person no matter how small.

In the story, it takes one last voice - the voice of a little girl named Jo-Jo in order for the voices of the people of Whoville to be heard. One small voice makes the difference.

One of my favorite books is "Let Your Life Speak" by Parker J. Palmer. He talks about the importance of listening,referring specifically for the voice of vocation. (I think Horton would have been very good at this since he heard the voices of the Who people on that very tiny speck of dust.)

I love the question Parker Palmer poses - Is the life I am living the same life that wants to live in me?

"Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you."

Palmer's philosophy is that vocation does not come from willfulness, but rather from listening. The word vocation actually comes from the Latin word for "voice". Vocation is different from a goal a person has for their career. It has to do with listening for the calling from the voice within each of us. It is not about what we do. It is about who we are.

Parker adds the following:

"Vocation at its deepest level is "This is something I can't not do, for reasons I'm unable to explain to anyone else and don't fully understand myself, but that are nonetheless compelling."

If you were to listen to that tiny speck of dust on that pink clover, what would it be whispering about your life to you?