Styles of Listening

Blackbuck Antelope. Photographer: Dick Mitchell. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

There is nothing passive about active listening. I was reminded of this while reflecting on the work of William Stafford, the poet. He was said to have had a "fierce neutrality" in listening to the work of student writers. (I wish I could attribute the quotation.) He did not wish to lead them astray from tapping into and expressing their inner voices with his too-apparent affirmation or with cutting criticism. I was also reminded of watching video of Carl Rogers with a client last semester, in one of my counseling classes. The stereotype of a therapist who reframes and restates as an automaton is not only potentially infuriating (in practice) but also decidedly not in the tradition of Rogers. Excuse my italics. Rogers, as I observed him on tape, was an incredibly active listener. I was reminded of palpable movement of the heart and/or of the inner spirit that can happen when with such a person.

Is it obvious that I chose this picture because the antelope is in rapt attention? In this hectic era, there is often little time or inclination to listen to one's self--or to anyone else.