Le’go my Ego
Now in my mid-60s, I’ve come to realize how tiring life lived with an ego is. Which means, theoretically, that we’re all tired, we humans. With these outsized brains, and the consciousness that they carry, it seems that we constantly…
Blog
Why is it Hard to Listen? Thoughts after Two Years of the Project
I have been thinking, since celebrating the second anniversary of the project in late June, about whether there is anything specific that I can distill from this experience, from having had 600+ people join me, from these tremendously varied interactions…
Listening in a Context of Differences
The poster that I display when I’m listening explains that I’m doing this, in part, to become a better listener. When I started listening roughly a year and a half ago, I believe I was referring particularly to becoming better…
Peeling the Onion (of Purpose and Meaning)
I always appreciate it when someone asks me to explain what led me to initiate the project and to describe the purposes that I hope it will serve. I value these questions because they make me question myself repeatedly, and…
Thoughts on a Year of Listening
June 1, 2023 This month the project will celebrate its first birthday. This feels remarkable to me for two reasons: first, the fact that when the project began I thought it likely I’d sit once or twice, find there was…
‘Strangers’
'Strangers' March 5, 2023 One of the beauties of doing the project in Southern California is the ability to do it outside, year-round. I wasn’t sure what the winter would bring, but I have only been rained out three times,…
Pondering the “Why”
Why Am I Doing This? One of the questions that people often ask me is why I am doing this. It may sound a bit strange to say, but I’ve found that it has become more difficult for me to…
Early Lessons Learned
Listening: Initial Thoughts Hi. I’m starting this blog so that I can share with you some sense of the experience of listening, and perhaps think ‘out loud’ about the questions that this project has raised in and for me, lessons…