This morning I am grateful to be sharing a guest post, written by our dear friend Len Pierre of Katzie First Nation. Len, thank you for your willingness to guide our learning - I appreciate you so much.
"By far one of my most favorite teachings and to be honest, one of the most underestimated, is the teaching of listening.
You see, in my culture, as it is in many across Turtle Island, we are master listeners. I often find elders, speakers, leaders, matriarchs, and Chiefs are respected and honoured for their ability to speak and share stories. I've learned from my elders and speakers who trained me that all great speakers are first great listeners.
So many of our elders remind us that we have two ears and one mouth for a reason, so that we may listen twice as often as we speak. Which does not always align in our western value system where we seem to value dominating conversations. We also tend to listen to respond to people before we listen to understand them.
But real cultural safety, humility, allyship, compassion, and reconciliation will come from listening to one another. Not just with the two ears on the side of our head, because our elders always say that we have another ear located in our heart, so it's also important to listen with our heart. Yes, you have three ears. If we listen with our heart, we will create understanding. It's hard to be mad at someone you understand. It's hard to hate someone you understand. It's hard to be afraid of someone you understand. This is the zone of compassion we all want to be in and it comes with disciplined listening.
So don't forget to listen. Listen to your elders. Listen to your children and youth. Listen to your partner. Listen to the songs and prayers. Listen to your friends and colleagues. And don't forget to listen to your heart and with your heart."
Comments