Hear the Whole Song: Layered Love and Mumford & Sons

Erika Petrelli
Erika Petrelli

Hear the Whole Song: Layered Love and Mumford & Sons

Hear the Whole Song: Layered Love and Mumford & Sons

"song sparrow sings", devra, https://www.flickr.com/photos/minicooper93402/

I’ve mentioned before my love of the band Mumford & Sons, and I have been delighted recently that my five-year old son has been similarly taken by them. The other day we were listening to “Roll Away Your Stone” and I was telling him how that was the first song of theirs I had ever heard, and recounted the first time I heard it.  He made me tell him the story twice, somehow as rapt by it as he was by the song.

I told him that I was in the car driving when it came on. I told him that as the first instrumental notes started I thought “Oh, this sounds nice.” And then a few moments later, when Mumford started singing, I thought “Wow, this is a really good song.” And then, yet a few moments later, when the entire band—as Dylan calls it—“went crazy,” I thought “I LOVE THESE GUYS and I must hear MORE!”.  It was love at first listen, I told Dylan. But it was a layered love—it started as “oh this is nice” before getting to “I LOVE THESE GUYS!”

I think that’s true with people, too. 

How many people do we meet and think “oh, they seem nice”…   but then after spending a bit more time with them, or getting to know them a bit more, realize “Wow! I love this person!”

And so more importantly—how many people do we not?  How many times do we settle for “oh they seem nice” without bothering to go further? How many times do we make a final judgement on a person based on limited information? How many times do we decide that this is the way a person is, despite not knowing much?

Me telling the story of how I (quickly, I admit) grew to love Mumford & Sons reminded me of the importance of making sure we’ve “heard the whole song.”  In general

In a partnership. At work. When parenting. When exchanging political discourse. Because if I’m too quick to decide about you, I may be missing the best part. I’m probably missing the best part. 

So why not rock out with me and Dylan and put on “Roll Away Your Stone” while considering this:

With who can you take the time to “hear the whole song” today?

 

Wings & Whimsy Challenge:

We all have times that we've not taken the time to hear
someone's full song. When has that happened to you, and
what did you learn from it? Tell me about it in the comments
below, or tweet me @ErikaPetrelli1

Erika-Brand

Interested in having Erika’s blog come directly to your e-mail each Tuesday? Have comments to share?  E-mail her at erika@tlpnyc.com.   Find all her previous blog posts at www.tlpnyc.com/author/erika

 

 

“Hear the Whole Song: Layered Love and Mumford & Sons”, The Leadership Program, 2016

 

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Erika Petrelli

By Erika Petrelli

Erika Petrelli is the Senior Vice President of Leadership Development (and self-declared Minister of Mischief) for The Leadership Program, a New York City-based organization. With a Masters degree in Secondary Education, Erika has been in the field of teaching and training for decades, and has been with The Leadership Program since 1999. There she has the opportunity to nurture the individual leadership spirit in both students and adults across the country, through training, coaching, keynotes, and writing. The legacy Erika strives daily to create is to be the runway upon which others take flight. If you enjoy these blogs, you should check out her interactive journal, On Wings & Whimsy: Finding the Extraordinary Within the Ordinary, now available for sale on Amazon. While her work takes her all around the country, Erika calls Indiana home.