Hearing vs Listening

The title of this blog is pretty transparent. I'm not using any symbolism or word play. I'm not trying to be obscure or creative in any special way. I'm not even trying to make a deep and impactful statement. I'm merely saying that there is a difference between hearing someone speak and listening to someone speak, and we, as a society, have taken a turn toward hearing more than we listen.

When you hear someone speak, you know what words they say and you hear them speaking. You can even at times repeat the words they said and make them know that you heard them speak. But hearing them isn't enough. We don't know what their meaning was. You don't know what their purpose was. You don't know what their words meant at their core. And that does no one any good.

Listening is different. Listening doesn't always necessarily mean responding. Listening doesn't always mean being able to recite verbatim what the person you are listening to says. Listening involves allowing the words to be processed by your brain, and understanding their essence. Listening is knowing what the person is saying to you, even if they don't know that themselves.

We spend so much of our time focused on responding to what someone is saying, making sure we get our 2 cents worth in, that we don't bother listening to what we are actually talking about. Stop for minute, listen to what someone is saying, and make sure you are making all the difference you can.

Thanks for listening.