I want to invite you to participate in #ListenFirstFriday. Our work at Someone To Tell It To is about the work of listening compassionately, intentionally, non-judgmentally. So many of us have held onto our unspeakable secrets for 10, 20, 50 or more years. “I’ve never told this to anyone else before,” is a confession we hear more times than we can number. So many of us live lives of desperate loneliness for many, many reasons. Loneliness, we have learned first-hand, is one major symptom felt by those who have been abused.
Every story of abuse is a story told by someone who doesn’t want to be alone anymore. The vitriol and condemnation we are hearing from so many people in our social media and technologically-connected culture about this issue today ignores and betrays the fact that real people are hurting and need to be heard and understood. They need to be healed and have their stories honored. They do not need to be victimized again as the subjects of a virtual shouting match.
We need to start by listening so that they, along with all the rest of us, can be part of the solution, rather than those who only complicate and exacerbate the problem.
So, how do you do this?
Start simple - ask, "What's your story?" Then remember it's not your job to discount or discredit that story but to let them tell it, openly.
Remember that behind that story is a person, someone who matters and deserves to be heard.
Remember, above all else, that it's about what you believe that is vital.
What is vital today, on #ListenFirstFriday, is to be extra intentional about positively connecting with people you encounter.
Happy #ListenFirstFriday!
Michael
Co-Founder
Someone to Tell it To