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It’s a complete gift — to listen to someone. Anyone — everyone needs to be listened to.
I find myself listening a lot more these days. My brain has slowed some, perhaps, I find I’m not forming a response halfway through the story as I used to do when I was younger. I’m waiting for the punchline — hearing the intonations — leaning into the nuances — listening.
I used to just hear. It’s a completely different experience. When you ‘hear’ — you aren’t engaged in the process — you are a bystander to the conversation — you are not absorbing the message.
But when you listen — you are paying attention to the plot. It isn’t just sound vibrations coming through the air at you. You have been transported to the very same stage the speaker is on. You are witnessing the very same events of their telling.
You are present. With them. At that moment.
Listening is a huge connection to make with another being. These days I listen to just about everyone/thing.
I listen when walking in Nature — My Old Friends The Trees speak clearer to me, The Ocean sings me lullabies, and Rainstorms play soft music.
I listen to my children — who are not children. They have grown into women — into My Friends. They bless me with their wisdom and love. I marvel at all the thousands of conversations — the millions…
