Jan 17: Listening Holistically

It would appear that in order to stay on track with my writing and to keep the creative juices flowing I do need to write daily so this week will start a new with this journal using the Daily Writer. Today's entry as the title states is learning to listen. According to Mr. White learning to listen holistically means listening to any given issue from multiple perspectives not just one or two. He also lets us know that this is not an easy task to accomplish. Just listening can, for many of us, be a difficult task. In therapy we refer to it as actively listening which means you listen to the others in the conversation well enough that you can paraphrase what they said. Both active listening and holistic listening would mean that you would have to focus your attention on what others are saying. All to often most of us, myself included, tend to listen with the intent of formulating our response. This is particularly true if we disagree with the other person(s) in the conversation. This is when Mr. White thinks we should listen the most carefully and so do I. So I will attempt to listen more holistically.
Mr. White states in For Further Reflection, that we should ask ourselves two questions in order to improve your listening ability. How good a listener are you? How closely do you pay attention to what people say? One of his assignments is to write a short story in which you satirie characters who get into trouble because they fail to listen carefully. Won't have time for that because I still have my original four short stories that have not been completed. But I will keep it in mind and add it to the growing collection of story ideas.