During my walk through Balboa Park today, I came upon a quietly smiling gentleman in a lawn chair with a poster in front of him. I had stumbled upon the Listening Project.
Joshua was very welcoming as I asked him about his Listening Project. He said his only intention was to listen to people if they decide to engage. He’ll listen politely to absolutely anything you might say.
Joshua believes everybody needs to be heard, and that listening is a gift we give to other people. Our listening lets people know that they matter.
Our listening also helps us to grow as human beings.
Actually hearing and considering the thoughts of other people, I have to agree, is an essential part of being thoughtful ourselves–no matter what that other person might say. Nobody is exactly alike. We are all fallible, complex and have our own unique life experiences.
In these days of social media, which seems to reward division, deceit, name calling and unabashed rudeness, polite, thoughtful one-on-one listening seems more important than ever.
Sadly, it also seems we human beings can be a bit self-absorbed. Sometimes when we converse we are more concerned about what we will say, rather than what the other person is saying. We talk over each other. I can be guilty of this, myself.
Joshua listens confidentially and doesn’t judge. As his website explains: The idea for the Listening Project first came to me around three years ago. The idea was very simple: set up a couple of chairs in public places and offer people the opportunity to speak uninterrupted about anything they wished for five or ten minutes, with the promise that if they did so I would really listen.
Does he have some ulterior motive or hidden agenda? Merely this: I believe that through listening and connecting we can: shed fears or anxieties we hold about reaching out to ‘strangers’; cast off the stereotypes we live with; build bridges across the boundaries that we have created and which divide us; reduce the loneliness that many of us feel; and gain insight into what it might take to create broader ‘communities’ in our lives.
Yes, Joshua is out of the ordinary. In a very, very good way!
He wouldn’t mind if others followed in his footsteps, but he’s very humble about his “experiment” and wishes only that people choose their own path.
Are you curious about the Listening Project? I urge you to check out its website here!
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