“I think you constantly ask yourself the question with total frankness, is your marriage still a marriage? Is the sacramental element still there? Just as you have to ask about the sacramental element in your work – is it still there?
It’s frightening to realize … I thought I was living my life but I haven’t been a human being. I’ve been a performer. I haven’t been living. I’ve been acting the role of a father. I’ve been acting the role of a husband.
I’ve had to go through a kind of training program to become a human being. How did I feel? I didn’t know. What kind of people did I want to be with? I didn’t know. The only way I could do it, was to cut out all the noise, stop performing all the time, and just listen.”

Andre in the movie – My Dinner With Andre

Although it might seem that Andre is referring to meditation when he talks about cutting out the noise, I think it’s something much more. It’s about still hearing the stories we keep telling ourselves, but accepting that they are just stories. It’s about still wearing the masks and facades and personas, but not letting them seem as if they are really us.

It’s about slowing down just a second, and listening to ourselves and others with more than our ears. It means listening with our heart.