Story Telling & Immersive Listening; Why it’s Important
What Makes Listening Powerful?
A tiny part of my life experience has recently been published in a book. Paradoxically the experience of telling my story to another, rather than having it published in a book, is where the deepest value emerged. The experience of sharing this precious tale with someone who respected it, was truly powerful, and it’s Maya Angelou who can articulate more poignantly why;
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.”
Just Listen
In everyday life we all happen across moments of reading about human suffering, engage fully with a piece of music or art that speaks to us. But fully immersing ourselves into our friends, families or our team’s stories is not our happy space (and I’m not campaigning for this). Rather, to draw attention to the powerful nature of listening to someone fully in the right circumstances. Consider we’ve all had staff or friends who are having a tough time and we have not known how to help, well how about just listen?
Challenges of Sharing with Friends
Unlike telling my friends my heat-felt story, the dynamic didn’t demand I had to listen to someone else’s pain. I was allowed to be the only story teller in the room. I had time and space to just express it.
Unlike sharing with my friends I didn’t receive advice as to how to make the experience better - the story was allowed to be messy and teary.
Unlike describing the exact experiences to a friend I could be honest about how frighten I was and how that is effecting me now - I could show vulnerability.
Unlike being with friend we didn’t chat, I told a story and someone listened and they listened with intensity.
I had a willing and active participant who was just going to listen to me; she was the amazing Suzie Mackie. As part of her work Suzie has bore witness to hundreds of womens stories and collected them into a series of books. Through a chance meeting my story, of a moment in time that was both painful and joyous, enabled me to process my experience. It was cathartic, freeing, and she gave me the space to speak freely and in turn I found space in myself by telling the story; it was a pivotal moment in my life.
Don’t Underestimate Just Listen Strategy
So, don’t underestimate the powerful nature of sharing a story about yourself that has been trapped inside of you and don’t underestimate how liberating it is for someone to be listened to fully and Immersively. As a witness to a story you are showing respect for a person’s experience and providing them with space and time to tell them something that is troubling them - its truly powerful.
