The Deep Listener

I have personally experienced the power of being Deeply Listened to. I believe it is a fundamental need of a human being -- to be Listened to. Deeply.

Listening well appears to be less than a general inclination in people.

Our current society worldwide seems to have become quite desperate in its need to be Listened to. There is little doubt that the levels of trauma and stress have soared to, in many cases, unbearable heights; and require urgent release. How to do this? An immediate and necessary starting point is being Listened to.

Of course, there are the services of psychologists and psychiatrists, yes. But these are not for everyone and often a genuine, confidential Listening ear is enough; or at least a positive beginning.

The session/s does/do not have to be formal in any way; it can be done at a coffee shop, in a car, or out in Nature -- depending on the wishes of the person seeking the Listening aid.

Time and again I have experienced and noticed the positive, revealing and healing consequences of a deep Listening conversation.

On my recent journey in India for example, it was quite astonishing how easily and readily complete strangers -- I and the other -- shared deep thoughts, feelings and emotions with each other; sometimes the remark being made such as:

"I don't know how this happened, I haven't told anyone else about this before."

Vital are the factors of trust and confidentiality. It seems that often this is a natural resonance that is intuitively felt, and known.

I believe that any personal assistance probably should begin with being Listened to. On an own personal note: I have for most of my adult life worked intently and intensively on my personal development, always with a view of being of beneficial assistance to others. Even though about 40 years of my life were plagued by alcoholism, a constant refrain for me was to consistently strive to better myself; this involved reading vastly and widely in various fields as well as my writing, something I have done virtually daily. I have been in a beautiful 'space' since overcoming my addiction which I call 'Freedom Beyond Addiction and Recovery.'

For many, many years I have considered what to focus on to coach others. My mind changed, as many of my friends will bear witness, regularly, often several times during one day! This I have found both very frustrating as well as bringing about procrastination of related actions. After all this time I utilised this capacity of listening and applied it totally and absolutely to myself while out enjoying a beautiful walk/run in the early hours of this morning. I asked myself to Listen as deeply as possible to what my heart was telling me, not what my purely (impurely?) thinking mind was saying. My heart being a closer ally to my deepest feelings -- my innate 'urges'?

And my heart said softly and quietly: "Do what you really enjoy doing and you know you do it effectively. You have discovered recently that by Listening to others you are also able to, when appropriate, pass on any wisdom that you may have picked up over your self-discovering life. In this way, you might also be called upon to pass on to others, again where relevant, of your vast writings that you have expressed on paper which have been of benefit to your own path in life."

Listening to this heart-given and heart-felt advice I have felt a distinct lightness of being. Listening wholeheartedly to this benevolent advice I shall pursue its further 'directing' and assuredly put it into practice.

May I possibly be of Listening Assistance to you...?