We hear with our ears but we listen with our hearts.

What have you been hearing with your ears that you might better have “heard” with your heart?

Hearing and Listening are not nearly as closely related as many of us may believe. All too many breakdowns in human communication have stemmed from assuming that just because something was said it was heard, and if heard it was understood.

It is easy to see that there is loads of room for mischief in that last sentence.

As a part of my work with Relationship Literacy I have been in an ongoing inquiry about distinctions between Listening and Hearing. At one time they seemed quite similar to me, almost indistinguishable--but upon further reflection I have come to understand they are nothing at all alike.

We hear with our ears but we listen with our hearts.

These two functions use two very different organs; the two organs process two very different types of information. While our ears register sound vibrations, our hearts register feelings and emotions. Ears hear only the vibrations, but our hearts, in tandem with our capacities to think, understand that which was unsaid.

Our hearts register that which was never expressed in the sounds and words that our ears heard. Our hearts permit us the capacity to empathize.

So, rather than better hearing aids, perhaps we should be looking for better listening aids.  Do you, or does anyone you know, need one of those, a listening aid?

I wonder, “What have we been hearing with your ears that we might better have heard with our hearts?”

What have you and I been missing?

Offers: Paul@relationshipliteracy.com (425) 998-6432.