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If You Want To Be Heard, Listen, Speak Softly…Wait
Take your time. Silence is the golden glue…ALWAYS
Many years ago, on our trips back to Adelaide, we’d take time to visit a friend’s parents. They loved a chat.
On one occasion I said to me husband, “Why don’t you ever say much?”
“There’s never any room,” he replied.
And he was right. The conversation was always fast and furious, people cutting in on each other, so that the whole experience was pretty exhausting.
The result was that we always left feeling as if so many stories had been started, but never ever completed.
I was reminded of these experiences when I read this, short, succinct story by Jean-Yves Carfantan. He begins:
“My ex-wife did not speak loud to be heard, she spoke softly to be listened to, she used the silences. It was awesome, after three words, audience went silent. They perceived a strange rhythm and had the curiosity to know the content of her speech.”
Jean talks about the way so many of us try to engage in conversation.
