Education is the
ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your
self-confidence. [Robert Frost]
I love that. So often
I have asked why I am NOT a better listener. I mean I try to BE, but there are
times when it is just about impossible for me to listen. Understanding things Now I didn’t understand Then, I can see that one of those two things
was probably running the circus.
When you really listen
to another person from their point of view, and reflect back to them that
understanding, it's like giving them emotional oxygen. [Stephen
Covey]
There is nothing like really BEing listened to. Really
sensing that someone is leaning in and wanting to hear. It’s NOT an everyday
experience in my World, but it has been and is, on occasion…
Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories.
Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them. I suppose
it’s an early form of participation in what goes on. Listening children know
stories are there. When their elders sit and begin, children are just waiting
and hoping for one to come out, like a mouse from its hole. [Eudora Welty, One Writer's Beginnings
(William E.Massey Senior Lectures in the History of American Civilization)]
This is just exquisite, you
know?!
I love you, Currie
2 comments:
I find that I really have to concentrate on being a good listener.... I try hard to be the listener but I fail miserably... I think this may be true of most unfortunately. Something I definitely need to work on.
I need to be a better listener, for sure. Been working at it all my life. Chatterboxes are hard to retrain--LOL! ;)
Yes, Eudora's quote is exquisite. :)
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