An Open Invitation To Offer You My Ear
Times are tough, so I want to do better to really hear you.
Times are tough, so I want to do better to really hear you.
How are you doing right now?
No, really, how are you?
I wish there was a way I could crawl through whatever screen you are reading this on and just pull up a chair, flop onto a couch, and ask you and then really listen to your answer. Give you my full attention and let you know with words, a look, or body language that you can totally unload, that you can trust me not to use whatever you say to harm you.
Because it seems to me that what we need right now, what I know I need, is for people to listen to us. To really hear us with their hearts, not just their minds.
As a dude who thinks I’ve been a pretty good listener for most of my 47 years, I also know I can do better. And speaking for us dudes, I know we men can do better.
Sometimes when I share something with a guy friend, all I want to do is unload, I’m not looking for a solution, but once I’ve got whatever is bothering me off my chest, they try to solve my problem for me.
No, you nincompoop! That’s not what I want right now. I am fully confident I can solve my problem, eventually, and part of me solving it is just airing it out to someone, someone who will will just listen.
When I’m done, about the only response I’m looking for is an empathetic one, a simple, “Yeah, sorry you are going through that” or “I hear you, man.”
That’s it. That’s the solution I want, just having an ear, and I’d bet that as you’re reading this you are thinking, yup, that’s all I am asking for!
Yet it seems like this year more than any other time before, such responses are becoming harder to find.
So, I’ll ask again, how are you? How are you doing?
In all sincerity, feel free to drop me a line in private; one of my main purposes for having a blog, heck, for being alive, is to be there for people. Or, if you want, you can drop a comment in the comment section below. Or, last, if you don’t feel you need to reach out or comment, totally cool. Just know, I am here and, I have this sneaking suspicion, a lot of us want to be here and a lot of us will start to be here more, and sooner than you think.
In the meantime, I wish you well. Thanks for reading.
Thanks for reading! Support me by sharing my stuff or connecting with me on Twitter, by checking out my new podcast, The B&P Realm Podcast, or reading my novel, “The Teacher and the Tree Man.”