Listening Well

Listening...

Can you remember a time when you felt truly heard in what you were saying?

Or, do you remember a time when you felt unseen in a conversation?

Our own experience of being listened to helps shape how we are able to listen to others. There is so much that goes on internally for us as we try to listen well to those in our lives. We do our best to listen to family, friends, colleagues, or even the clerk in the store, to be present to what they are saying. Our minds often distract us, our feelings seem like they can get in the way, so much goes on inside ourselves while we listen. And right now, there often feels like so much divides us in our desire to listen well with others.

Listening, really listening, requires paying attention to what is going on inside of us. Our own stories, thoughts, and understandings shape what we hear or how we hear what is being said.

So, how do we truly listen?

We can all become better at listening well. It starts with learning to pay attention to our own inner voices to recognize how we may be distorting what we hear. Then we can learn to ask questions to help the person we are with discover their own inner wisdom.

Join Kathi Gatlin, a spiritual director, in this 8-week course to learn how to create space to listen to the people in our lives. We will learn to listen to what goes on inside us and practice skills that help us to hold a nonjudgmental space for ourselves and others.