This Was Where I Learnt To Listen...

Last week I shared a post about 5 random facts about me. It really got me thinking. I shared how my first “real life adult job” was working at a homeless crisis centre.

After I shared that post, I reflected on just how much that job shaped my life, and landed me here where I am today.

I went into social services with an idealistic view of the world. All I wanted to do was “change the world”!

I came from a white-middle-class neighbourhood. Although I had some serious traumas of my own (which at this point were still buried in my subconscious), I really didn’t have any understanding of the world and the realities that many people face.

Going into that job was like having a bucket of ice dumped on top of my head. It quickly snapped me out of my dream-state world and opened my eyes to what was really going on.

At the time, I didn’t realise how lucky I was to be working with the people I was working with. I got to learn from the best-of-the-best staff (and interns). Some seriously awe inspiring humans. When I see what they’re up to on Facebook, I’m constantly wowed by them and what they do for the homeless community. (I wish you knew how much I look up to them.)

This is where I learnt to listen.

To just listen.

As a 21 year old, I certainly knew I was in no position to give life advice to the 60 year old who had been living homeless longer than I had been alive.

Just listen.

Most of my days were spent playing Scrabble, listening to their stories. The ups and downs. The trauma they had faced.

All I could do was listen.

And I learnt, back then, that sometimes listening is all another human wants. To know that they’re seen. That they’ve been heard. That someone cares to know about their story.

That they matter.