One cannot hear the voice of another, unless they first silence their own

I was thinking about this today.  If we are truly to 'hear' the voice of those whom we support, we must be willing to let our voice fall silent.  More, we must be willing to push our voice aside to make room for the voice of another. I think perhaps this is a much more difficult exercise than what we first might consider.  Our words come so fast, our assumptions at the speed of sound.   A colleague and I reflected for a few moments today on how easy it is us for us 'support' type people to brush past, ignore ....silence, the voices of those we support.  We both felt a sense of remorse that too often, we speak for, and don't listen with.  Often this is done not with malice or intent, but because of our own busyness, demands and the amount of voices coming at us - yet - we must find the resolve to push those things aside and give room and authenticity to the voices of those we support. It not that their voice is not valuable - the problem can be the value I attribute to that voice.  A significant part of our call is to lend our voice to their voice - to learn their communication to give shape to their sounds and gestures. To be silent and allow the voices of others to have room.


Anyway, I was just thinking,

Neil