August Blog Post

The chapter that has stood out the most to me at this point is Chapter 4: Compassionate Critical Listening.  I found this chapter interesting because it discussed the difference between hearing and listening, a difference that not everyone takes into consideration.

More often than not, most people do more hearing than listening.  Instead of being attentive and focusing on whomever is speaking, people are simply not paying attention and they are not thinking deeply about what is being said.  This can lead to misunderstanding and conflict, especially in your interpersonal relationships.  An example would be when parents tell you to do a list of chores, but you are only hearing what they are saying as opposed to fully listening, which can lead to a variety of problems.  The first is that you won’t take in everything that they are telling you to do, so when you don’t do something, your parents are going to be frustrated with you.  In turn, you will be confused and frustrated with them because you don’t remember them saying anything about vacuuming, unloading/loading the dishwasher, and folding the laundry. 

Hearing as opposed to listening is not always a bad thing.  Sometimes we passively encounter sounds—hearing—and sometimes we actively engage with those sounds—listening. We don’t have to intently listen to everything that is going on around us at all times, that would be a complete overload.  But it is important to make sure that when someone is speaking to us we are engaged and are thinking carefully about the message. 

I know that I definitely need to work on being a better listener.  If a friend is just going on and on about something and I am not engaged, I tend to zone out and think about all the things I could be doing.  As their friend though, I should be fully focused on what they are saying and try to think carefully about their message and what I am going to say in return.  Similarly, I need to work on listening more intently in my classes because I know that I would retain and learn a lot more by being active.