My August 2024 Poem of the Month is all about the benefits of Listening… the necessity, as it were, of truly listening to others in conversations.

It’s said there is a great difference between hearing and listening; that when you hear, words just pass through your ears… but when you listen the words touch your being. It’s also said that when we listen, we hear someone into existence.

As Raquel Welch has said, “You can’t fake listening.”

Craig D. Lounsbrough, a counselor and life coach from Colorado had this to say about listening: “Effective communication is eighty percent listening, which you cannot do if your head doesn’t shut up long enough for your mouth to do the same.”

I ran across a tongue-in-cheek comment by author Sarah Dessen about listening that I want to share with you. It made me smile, and I hope you enjoy it:

“This is the problem with dealing with someone who is

actually a good listener. They don’t jump in on your

sentences, saving you from actually finishing them, or

talk over you, allowing what you do manage to get

out to be lost or altered in transit.

“Instead, they wait, and you have to keep going.”

Another bit of wisdom: “Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.” (Thank you, David W. Augsburger.)

And finally, whatever the question, love is always the answer.

THE ART (AND NECESSITY) OF LISTENING

“There is a great difference between hearing and listening.”
So said G. K. Chesterton many years ago;
And Malcolm Forbes offered this on the subject:
“The art of conversation lies in listening,” (don’t you know).

While hearing is the sense by which sound is perceived,
Listening is giving attention to the words that you hear.
It’s impossible to listen while waiting to respond.
Put your argument to rest, and “sweeten” the atmosphere.

You cannot truly listen to the other person
And do anything else at the same time.
“LISTEN” and “SILENT” have the same letters…
An anagram speaking wisdom for communication sublime.

The most basic of all human needs is to understand,
And be understood by others around.
Obviously, the best way to understand others
Is to listen to them. Listen to each and every sound.

Your silence creates a vacuum for others to fill.
The key is to keep listening and staying present.
Your silence of holding steady while the other one speaks
Is different from the silence of holding back a comment.

The reward you receive for a lifetime of listening,
When you would have preferred to talk,
Is WISDOM. It’s true! You’re all the wiser
For having learned how others have walked their walk.

When you listen with curiosity there’s no intent to reply.
You’re listening to understand, not to be heard.
No, there’s no intent to reply with your “answers.”
You’re listening for what is behind each word.

The Art (And Necessity) of Listening