Developing Our Hearing Aids

Life is full of funny stories - contradictions, missteps, and moments hard to explain.  Sometimes it means taking life lightly... and smiling!

A Dialogue Practitioner and friend updated me on her local Community of Practice.  They had been meeting at the conference room of the organization who sponsored our two years of dialogue study.  Due to changes in the organization, they were being asked to pay for the use of the conference room.  Unable to pay, they were without a home after several years of meeting there.

The funny juxtaposition: the hearing aid company next door had a conference room that was available and was offered for their use — free of charge!

How old are the methods you use to listen?
(Photo credit:  Hearing Aid History, Healthy Hearing)

What struck me about this situation is that the dialogue organization they had relied on for years was forced to charge, yet the hearing aid company provided a space for them to continue learning.

I wonder:  how often in life do we rely on earlier assumptions and methods to communicate, not realizing that there may be other hearing aids available to listen more clearly?

Have you tried newer ways to listen more clearly?
(Photo credit: Hearing Aid Types, About Health Care System)

I know from my personal experience with hearing loss and talking to friends who are facing similar challenges, it takes time to realize — and accept — that our bodies are changing.  The youthful clarity of experiencing the world has been dulled by loud events that have exploded into our lives.

After I met with the audiologist who assessed my current state of hearing, it was up to me to decide the best course of action.

Are there ways to implant aids to hear/listen better?
(Photo credit:  5 Myths You Shouldn't Believe
About Cochlear Implants, Cleveland Clinic)

I wonder if we go through a similar loss-acceptance cycle with dialogue:

• Do I realize that I may not be hearing or understanding another person? 
• Am I willing to receive — and accept — feedback? 
• Can I learn new ways to dialogue (sharing, listening, and asking questions)?

Taking life lightly sometimes means becoming aware of moments when we move from dialogue to hearing, from paying to receiving, and from old methods to new.

May this week open us to hear more clearly the stories where Truth is implanted.

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

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