A guest post by Victoria Houser, PhD student at Clemson University. Like most people, I tend to think of myself as a rather well-rounded listener—supportive, engaging, silent when necessary. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve met anyone who openly acknowledges that they are terrible at listening. We recognize listening as a powerful trait, one that…
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Before we get started, let’s play a quick game of compare and contrast: Think about the life you thought you were going to have -the one you envisioned when you were a kid, a college student, a newlywed, or a first-time parent. Now think about the life you do have. Chances are good that the…
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Tom A cool breeze puffs its way across my face. The widow in our bedroom, an all but glorified piece of plastic wrap, makes me one with creation, whether I wish to be in this way or not. Like the two night owls on the mountainside at the end of our block, I’m…
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To be aware. That’s what it means to be “woke”. Increasingly, we’ve been hearing this word used as a byword for social awareness, primarily about racism and injustice. But it can be used for so much more. There’s a lot of injustice in this world. And yes, a lot of racism. Accompanying…
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Three years ago, a civic leader here in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, told us that she believed if more people had “someone to tell it to” in their lives, very possibly there would be fewer acts of violence, fewer incidents of abuse, and fewer mass shootings across our land. Three years later, we are utterly saddened and…
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We’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to call the people we listen to. Are they clients? Friends? Storytellers? Nothing quite fit. We wanted a name that represented the type of relationship we try to build and the way we value those we listen to, but we struggled to find a…
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With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, we wanted to share a story from our latest book about the transformational power of loving relationships. These meaningful connections remind us that what we do is never “just listening.” When we listen with compassion, we give someone a chance to feel seen, known, and heard—maybe for the…
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There’s a question that’s been brewing ever since we introduced Abby Turner as our Chief Listening Officer last week. What is a Chief Listening Officer, anyway? Ironically, the U.K. appointed their own Chief Listening Officer last week… they just gave the position a slightly different name: Minister for Loneliness. “We know that there is a…
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