The Gift of listening

 

Talking, listening & Sharing

I recently joined Clubhouse.

Clubhouse app is a modern age Radio—where folk around the world show up together to talk, listen and learn from each other in real-time. I found some engaging discussion rooms varying from literature, cinema, travel, history, sports, mental peace, office politics, parenting, music, and Covid-19, among others. This is an unusual app that has no option to write or upload. This audio-only app hosts live discussions in virtual “rooms”. The users can discuss with each other via audio, with opportunities to participate through speaking and listening. Users cannot upload pictures or videos, or type any text, and everything vanishes after the moment passes- without scope to like, re-tweet or share, or even download it.

Anyway, this post is not an advertisement for the Clubhouse app.

This post is a sort of self-reminder regarding the “gift of hearing” received from Almighty and to the “power of listening” which I am unfolding with the fleeting time.

For me, the symbols for ears, eyes, undivided attention, and heart comprise the exact definition for “to listen.”

The voice has its influence when the words that are uttered... affect the character, development, or behavior of someone or something. I still recollect the nights when my mom used to recite the stories about kings and queens and their braveries, the tales of freedom warriors, the saga of Panchatantra. Listening to those magical acts of heroism and wisdom not only fostered imagination to experience different realms but enabled me to develop empathy for the characters… as in why they did what they did.

My existing work profile has given me an active understanding that I might not always be comfortable with what I hear and I might not convey an immediate solution, but by truly listening to the people who expect to be heard, I guess I can still extend them some peace of mind and heart. Listening always unwraps gaps in other people’s thoughts and inferring how every person’s opinion varies.

With the modest conclusion to finish off this post, I quote Roy T. Bennett

“Listen with curiosity. Speak with honesty. Act with integrity. The greatest problem with communication is we don’t listen to understand. We listen to reply. When we listen with curiosity, we don’t listen with the intent to reply. We listen for what’s behind the words.”