Listening.
It sounds so simple doesn't it. All you have to do is sit quietly. Or maybe walk around doing housework while someone is talking, or perhaps make some tea, or perhaps just listen as you sit next to someone on a bus or walking down the road.
It really sounds so simple.
It has taken me years to learn how to do it nearly without thinking about it. Sitting, without thinking about my own stuff. No thoughts running through my mind about what is in the fridge or what I am having for dinner. The ability to just listen.
I have studied listening, (three years at college to learn how to be a counsellor) and I understand the theory. My ability to listen is something that has improved over the years, literally, years. The more I have come to the awareness that Listening is part of a Healing path, the more inclined I am to devote myself to doing just that when the occasion demands.
I guess that growing a reputation as a listener is also something that comes with time and practice. It is a reputation that must grow. It is therefore a bit of a surprise to me how people who need to speak to someone manage to find my listening ears like a heat-seeking missile.
I can honestly say that sometimes the simple power of silence, whether it is with total understanding or not, is sometimes the most helpful, useful and healing service that one human can do for another.
This is the first week of 2011 and I am fortunate enough to have 'listened' to three people who know that I can listen.
For anyone who has ever felt frustrated as if they have not been heard or as if they need to talk to someone who will hear what they are saying. Please don't give up the search for a good listener, keep searching until you find someone who knows how to use their ears.
Love and light to everyone who needs it.
(Thanks for listening!).
Tamasin x
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