Listening Practice

So much of our current discourse is confrontational.  Our worldviews are locked in and we have very narrow perspectives with short horizons.  Try sitting back as an observer at any gathering of people and just listen in.  Don't look for opportunities to contribute - simply sit in silence with the intention of listening and observing.

What I have noticed is the practiced approach people take to be heard, rather than to listen.  Quick to comment, judge, and disagree.  Often, as you practice being an observer, you can begin to pick up the individual conversation patterns.  You begin to successfully predict when a person is not listening but waiting to jump in to the conversation with his or her brilliant insight.  Then, disappointment registers as the insight falls deaf on ears that are equally distracted by minds stuffing them with tongues.

Occasionally, you encounter a listener.  A person who is listening with attention and speaking with intention.  Curious.  Asking a few questions to probe deeper into the conversation and reveal a truth that will form a connection.  What you also observe in this moment is a surprised speaker.  Real conversations, conversations that matter, are a rarity in our culture.  So rare that we sometimes do not know how to properly engage as the speaker.

We can change this - we have skills that are the cutting edge of 10,000 year-old technology.  We can talk to each other with intention.  The intention to make connection and build relationships.  To discover truths about what really matters to us.  And to listen as though our lives depend on it, because, in so many ways, they do.

Practice listening.