“Well, most women are full to the brim, that's all...We are, most of us, ready to explode, especially when our children are small and we are so weary with the demands for love and attention and the kind of service that makes you feel you should be wearing a uniform with "Mommy" embroidered over the left breast, over the heart...If a stranger had come up to me and said, "Do you want to talk about it? I have time to listen," I think I might have burst into tears at the relief of it.~from Elizabeth Berg's The Pull of the MoonThe part where she says, 'Do you want to talk about it? I have time to listen', so resonates with me. Everyone's busy with their own lives and it seems a rare treat for us to really sit still long enough to hear what the other person has to say. And if their lives are sticky, it's more so. We're more hesitant. For me, I tend to steer away from folks who are endless talkers, knowing that I'll be caught in a conversation that lasts longer than my patience. Maybe not fair, but it's how I roll. Probably because my time is so jam-packed with the kids and Gary that I seldom have any to spare.
But to think of folks actually wanting to listen....now, that's a gift. There have been very few times when I've been asked how I am and I knew in my heart that the person asking was sincere, and was interested in details. Now I'm not talking about the casual asking of how you're doing...but the times when the friend/acquaintance can tell that you have something that needs desperately to be said. Tears in response? Absolutely.
