When Someone Deeply Listens To You

A friend of ours – Kelly Hausknecht Chripczuk – shared this poem with us and we’d like to share it with you.  It’s a powerful statement about what we try our very best to do – listen deeply to allow others to share what’s on their hearts.   Listening deeply provides a place of safety and comfort; it shares love and allows love to be revealed.  It gives meaning to our stories and importance to our lives when we know that someone else cares enough about us to allow our voices to be heard.  Thank you, Kelly, for offering this touching and timeless message.

When someone deeply listens to you
it is like holding out a dented cup
you’ve had since childhood
and watching it fill up with
cold, fresh water.
When it balances on top of the brim,
you are understood.
When it overflows and touches your skin,
you are loved.

When someone deeply listens to you
the room where you stay
starts a new life
and the place where you wrote
your first poem
begins to glow in your mind’s eye.
It is as if gold has been discovered!

When someone deeply listens to you
your bare feet are on the earth
and a beloved land that seemed distant
is now at home within you.

 – John Fox

Photo by Amritanshu Sikdar on Unsplash