the listener also wants to be listened to too…
always the listener, never the one to be listened to…
Do listeners don’t have a story or do they never narrate there?
In a room or under the open sky, everywhere I go, a realization strikes me. I realize that I am always the one listening to someone, asking questions with curiosity to know more about them, but rarely the one being listened to.
It makes me wonder how it feels to narrate your own story to someone. To find out someone curious to know more? To answer those questions whose answer only I know?
I have a habit of asking questions while listening to someone. It doesn’t mean that I don’t find listening boring ever, I do. But I just try to make boring stories interesting by adding my fictional questions to them (lol).
I feel like, sometimes the questions we ask so easily are the only ones too difficult to answer.
For Example: the simplest question: “How are you?” Have a common answer in one word like fine, great, etc., but what if you have to give a genuine reply, it’s quite hard.
Sometimes, I get so indulged in listening that I forget about the time, too. This makes me wonder “What is it like to be the reason someone forgets to look into their watch?”.
In every conversation I have, I can see their pain from the past in those tears and their eyes lightening with the memories of those days. It’s not like I don’t like listening, but I simply want to know. How does it feel to be the one being heard, to be the answer to someone’s question?
As between every conversation, I embrace this curiosity. Maybe it’s not always about being heard, but it’s also about being understood, as it’s easy to listen to someone but hard to understand. I always try to take away something from someone’s story and pen it down in my memories but what would it like to be the story of someone else’s memories?
As the conversation ends, I’m left with a sense of wonder. What does my story look like from someone else’s point of view? The listener does have a bucket full of stories, waiting for a listener like themselves.
But still,
What would it feel like to be understood, in the way you always wanted to be?
….
Thanks for reading.
The Nijma.
Let me know your comments if you enjoyed reading.