January Blog Post

After reading “Between Speech and Silence: Reflections on Accountability” by Ann Russo, I was inspired by Russo to be more self aware of my listening skills. What inspired me the most was when she was talking about her transformational moments in life that occurred when she is intentional about how much space she is taking up. She gives herself space for listening, consciously stops herself from thinking about only what she has to say, and stops herself from assuming that what's most important in that moment is for her to to reveal herself as knowledgeable. The “most important sentence” in my opinion was “I listen for curiosity rather than for confirmation of what I already know” (Russo 38). Most of us selectively listen, with closed minds about what we don’t want to hear. Everyone around us is so knowledgable about so many different things, it is ignorant to think that we can't learn something from someone every time we have a conversation. If we all listened with genuine curiosity our minds would be opened to so many new concepts and ideas that we usually block out.

For example, when I talk to my fifteen year old sister who “knows everything”, she usually answers me with some sort of argumental comeback. In her mind, everything I say is wrong, even if she can’t prove it to me. The moments her and I both grow the most are when she listens to what I say, or vice versa, and one of us say something along the lines of “Wow, really? I actually did not know that”. I certainly am not exempt from listening only to confirm what I already know, but after reading this I am more conscious of it. It's becoming clear to me how important this concept really is and how effective it is to actually understand what someone is trying to tell you.