Reclaim The Art of Listening in 2020
What I learnt by watching myself listen for 30 days
“The art of conversation lies in listening.”
— Malcom Forbes
Communication skills are taught very early on in medical school. We go through a variety of lectures or workshops solely on gaining better listening skills. Practising medicine is an extremely mindful task requiring a 100% presence. Although I chose to train in surgery, I found it immensely rewarding to be present for my patients outside the operating theatre too. Facing terminal illness and death with my patients on a regular basis and being a part of their emotional journey is what made surgery more humane to me.
However, most of that changed when I was faced with my own life-changing grief. Grief is an unrelenting companion who shows up in the mornings when we reacquaint with reality, at work, when we eat or before we sleep. The biggest problem I faced with it was I feeling unheard by most people. Although conversations became something that eventually saved me, I unexpectedly discovered the true power of listening.
As I returned to work, I started seeing illness and death in a very different, personal way. I decided to pass on the gift of listening from the people who helped me through my grief to my patients. When I realised how far off I was, I decided…
