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
Sometimes, we tell our stories to hear ourselves say what we need to say. And, sometimes we tell our stories in order to be heard. When we are heard, deeply heard, healing can happen.
Just the other day, this happened to me. I shared a story from my life with someone I love and trust. It was a very painful experience. This person ‘heard’ me – she really heard me. You know how you know when someone hears you? Something clicks. They get it. You’ve connected.
Something happened inside me when she connected with me. I could feel it happen. I could feel the healing. It was as if I let go of something that had been hanging around for a long, long time.
Thoughts can become deeply entrenched within us, intertwined with our identity. The stories we make up out of these thoughts want to be heard, they want to be believed, they want to be listened to and understood. And when they finally are, they release.
When this happened for me, it was as if I relaxed back into this beloved land, this home within me. I settled in. I sighed. Whatever had been yearning to be heard was liberated, and I felt my bare feet on the earth, once again.
Is there something within you that is yearning to be heard? Is there a story that needs to be voiced to someone you trust, someone you know will honor your words with rapt attention and reverence?
Find this someone. Tell this story. Ask to be deeply listened to.
Photo by ashley rose,  Some rights reserved
::
This is so beautiful and so true. And I am so very fortunate to have had you deeply listen to my stories. You deep, reverent listening has allowed me to lay so many of my stories down and move forward unencumbered. Thank you for that. Thank you a thousand times over.
Jeanne, It is something we offer to each other, and I, too, am grateful for our walking this path together!
Love, J
This brought tears to my eyes, Julie. I am so glad for you that you were not only heard, but felt. If only, if only everyone could be listened to in this way.
Kim, Yes, if only. I guess it’s where we begin. I know I am listening more deeply after this gift to me. Love, Julie
Listening is the greatest gift that we can give, but they have to hear your listening or it is a lonely place to be.
Great article.
Tx!
-k @FitOldDog
Yes, there is a difference between listening and hearing… that’s what I mean by deeply listening…the kind that hears what is being said, and sometimes what isn’t said, too. Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comment! Julie
Julie – your writing is beautiful and it speaks to me. I love that you wrote about being heard. It’s like being witnessed and honored for what you went through. You use such beautiful words of the soul (yearning). Thank you for writing these beautiful posts.
Thank you, Sherold. It is being witnessed, isn’t it! I’m glad the posts speak to you. I love it when you stop by. Love, Julie
Dear Juley,
Your timing is uncanny as always. Someone is listening to me, deeply, and being heard, really heard makes me feel like I am seen. Truly seen. That feeling of being seen and heard is powerful. I am nearly drunk on that feeling. It is healing and it does heal.
Thank you! Thank you for ever so poetically giving voice to these profound moments.
Yours, C
Charlie, Isn’t being seen so important? Thank you for continuing to support my writing. Love, Julie