Hard Listening

I have stayed in touch with several of my former students, getting together when they are back in town.

Seeing them doesn’t make me miss teaching, but it reminds me why I stayed in it as long as I did.

I am a good listener. This wasn’t an acquired skill and I’m definitely no martyr. It’s just my natural inclination.     

It took me a long time to figure out that my penchant for listening over talking is why teaching felt exhausting, and why writing, which requires paying attention rather than attracting it, feels like home.

My ex-students are listeners, too, and we are birds of an odd feather. I love the awkward beat we take to digest and reflect before responding. I love the unguarded staccato of our conversations. I love knowing that all of the listening we put in fuels the fire to be heard. Of course it does. That’s why we write.