The other day I read an article by Dave Isay in the Boston Globe entitled "Taking The Time To Listen." He is the founder of StoryCorps, which facilitates interviews between loved ones and has evolved into the largest oral history project ever undertaken.
To this end he declared the day after Thanksgiving to be the inaugural National Day of Listening. He's asked Americans to set aside time, after turkey day, to do an interview with someone they care about.
He says, "Look your loved one in the eye. Just turn off your Blackberry and maybe don't shop for an hour."
This is one of the questions he was asked, "What is the value of telling stories?"
Answer:
StoryCorps is about listening, and the act of listening honors another person. In difficult times people start to feel desparate and it's good to remind people that they matter.This article got me thinking about "Listening" on many levels.
I remember when Steve was in college he had an assignment to interview a close family member. He chose to interview my father. Steve spent an afternoon asking his grandfather many questions, and my father who was not a big talker, spoke at length about important events in his life that I never knew about. He never told me!!
At the end of the interview my father said to Steve, "you listen."
Have you had this experience - when you are with a group of people, trying to make a point, someone cuts you off, you have more to say but they can't wait to add their two cents so you don't have the chance to complete your thought!
Or, you still have something more you want to add to the conversation and they change the subject!! Apparently they don't realize what they are doing or just don't care. Maybe these people are alone a lot and when they get someone who listens, they just don't let go.
Finally, Blogging is important to me because I get to complete my thought, no one interrupts me and I get feedback.
I don't even mind lurkers! ;-)