Learning the art of listening well

Car keys dangling from my jeans pocket, green button-down rolled up to my elbows and a camera hanging around my neck as I strolled across the grassy, motorcycle-filled field, I was struck by how out of place I felt.

There I was, overdressed in the summer heat, asking questions about a motorcycle swap meet, taking down notes on makes and models as if I had a clue what those words meant.

Over the course of my seven-week internship with The Lincoln County News, I’ve been faced with a variety of similar situations as I’ve struggled to write about things I’d never heard of before.

I’ve sorted through legal affidavits, climbed piles of dirt at construction sites and built classified pages.

All of these were new experiences, and it was easy to get lost.

I had to turn to the one thing I knew for sure: my job is to listen.

Few things are more valuable than putting down the familiar and taking the time to listen to another talk about their experiences and pastimes.

All of us have things that we love, situations that we care about, silly hobbies that others can easily laugh at, make fun of or ignore.

Motorcycles are not a passion of mine.

While witnessing people who love them, I grew to appreciate the substantial time and effort the bikers invested. I saw a glimpse of what the freedom of going out for a spin, with no pressure to go anywhere specific or check anything off a to-do list, meant.

It reminded me that desiring to understand other people’s experiences was what drew me to two of my own passions: theatre and journalism.

As a college theatre major, I strive to express the reality of the human condition through empathy. The medium is fiction, but the substance is truth.

As a journalism intern, the medium is facts, yet practicing empathetic listening – removing my own preconceived judgements and opinions – is just as important.

Through my journalistic writing I am able to sit down with someone and say, “I see that you care about this. I may not understand right now; please tell me about it.”

I could be writing about two very different viewpoints.

With empathy, I can deliberately set aside my own opinion and accurately reflect both sources’ opinions – even if I personally disagree.

This summer has challenged me to practice empathetic listening on a whole other level.

The challenge of reaching out to understand things beyond my frame of reference has made me a better writer and a better person.

Learning to value individual interests and viewpoints has given me new enthusiasm for areas of life I’d never explored before.

So, all that to say: I might never attend another motorcycle swap meet.

But I now understand why someone else would and that experience taught me to appreciate life in a different way.