“Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person they are almost indistinguishable.”
—David Augsburger
Being truly heard, it’s like a whisper to the heart, a quiet acknowledgment that our thoughts, our fears, our desires matter. It’s a bridge connecting one soul to another, underlining the profound truth that we’re seen, we’re important. When life throws us in the blender, we often forget to really listen, to let someone else’s words not just enter our ears, but our hearts too. We mistake hearing for listening, we mistake data exchange for genuine connection.
But let’s hit the pause button on our busy lives and truly listen. Because when we do, we’re saying: ‘I see you. I honor your perspective. Your story is important.’ Isn’t that, at the core, what love is? An intimate understanding, a tender acknowledgment of another’s existence and importance in our world?
So, let’s cultivate an ear for love. Let’s strive to hear not just the spoken, but also the unspoken, the feelings nestled between the lines, the dreams and fears that lie just beneath the surface. Because when we listen this way, we aren’t just lending our ears, we’re gifting our hearts. We’re loving.