Listening and Watching Differently

“When you live with what I’ve lived with, you listen to people differently. You listen for words of kindness.”, I was told today by the husband of a woman I’ve known for maybe 10 or 15 years, and who I first met about 6 years ago when she first visited Australia. This is her third trip. He’s been living with a form of cancer for the last three years. It was a wonderfully honest moment of personal insight into the life of someone else, offered so simply.

“Too often you spend conversations thinking about what you’ll say next, rather than listening to what people have to actually say”, I told him. “Working in radio, I’ve spent most of my career doing that. I don’t really like to talk much anymore. I much prefer to listen, these days”, I added.

It was a day where a large-ish group of us, who’ve all known each other for decades, got together for lunch at the wonderful rooftop bar at The Glenmore, a walk around Barrangaroo, and then finally, enjoyed a few beers and some chat at the renovated Palisades Hotel.

The weather was perfect. The company was excellent. And there was lots to LISTEN to. And with visiting tourists, there was a wonderful opportunity to see Sydney in ways I haven’t really noticed before, also.