Hearing and listening are critical.

Bird Droppings September 2, 2026
Hearing and listening are critical.

Perhaps my own hearing loss has made me think about this subject differently. I cannot always hear everything that is said, especially when there is background noise or several people talking at once. Consequently, I have had to learn to listen more intently. I find myself concentrating harder on the person speaking, watching facial expressions, paying attention to context, and sometimes trying to understand what was said from what wasn’t.

In an odd way, hearing less has taught me something about listening.

Maybe listening was never really about the ears alone. It is about attention. It is about caring enough to concentrate. It is about noticing the pauses, the expressions, the changes in someone’s voice, and the things they choose not to say.

That makes me wonder how often those of us with perfectly good hearing actually listen. We hear the words, but are we really listening to the person?

Perhaps my hearing loss has simply forced me to practice something that all of us need to practice: listening more intently, not just hearing more clearly.

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” Epictetus

A simple analogy, yet we far too often do not understand that statement, and perhaps it is because we have more jaw muscle than ear muscle. In education, 99.9% of the time, if you, the teacher, listen, students will learn more. That almost sounds like a paradox.

“Lenin could listen so intently that he exhausted the speaker.” Isaiah Berlin

I have never seen or heard this about Lenin, as I recall the many pictures of him all show him staring intently. Even in death, with his glass coffin that still is on display.

“Listen or thy tongue will keep you deaf.” Native American Indian Proverb

Anyone who knows me has seen me taking pictures, tens of thousands of pictures of sunrises, grandbabies, nature, and athletic events. Digital cameras can be wonderful tools in the classroom, too. I was taking some pictures of twin days one time during one of the Homecoming dress-up days, and one student was blurred in every photo. She has ADHD, and evidently that day was a bad day for her, being hyper. But even as she moved constantly, she wouldn’t stop talking either, and I would say, “Be still,” and she would bounce around and ask, “What did you say?” Even when I took a picture of two of her friends, she moved, and she wasn’t in the picture until she moved.

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” Winston Churchill

Far too often we do not stop to hear what is being said, both as teachers and students of life.

“The young people who come to me in the hope of hearing me utter a few memorable maxims are quite disappointed. Aphorisms are not my forte; I say nothing but banalities…. I listen to them, and they go away delighted.” Andre Gide

When teachers or parents ask me how I know something about a student, I generally say I listened to them.

“I tell you everything that is really nothing, and nothing of what is everything; do not be fooled by what I am saying. Please listen carefully and try to hear what I am not saying.” Charles C. Finn

In our chaotic world, we so often miss pieces, bits, and tiny segments; sometimes what is not said or done is as crucial as all that happens.

“The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.” Peter F. Drucker

The great business consultant and author Peter Drucker again reminds us that we need not only to listen, but to understand, and then read between the lines.

“The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen.” Tommy Smothers

I was always a big fan of The Smothers Brothers back in the day, and I find it interesting how such a simple thought could, in effect, be a powerful one: if you do not want to hear it, don’t listen, but let the person speak their piece.

“I guess I’ve spent my life listening to what wasn’t being said.” Eli Khamarov

If we could, perhaps things would be different. In politics, a journalist is free; she was jailed for not speaking out and telling sources; however, now she is speaking, and the repercussions could be great.

“Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.” Robert Fulghum

Dr. Laura Nolte said long ago, “Children learn what they live.” Interestingly, what they hear is not as significant.

“Children have never been good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” James Baldwin

Each day I watch, listen, and deal with issues involving children, parents, teachers, and friends, and so many are simply imitating what they have learned at home: mirror images of mom and dad, or whoever is at the house. For today, please keep all in harm’s way on your mind and in your hearts, and always give thanks. Namaste.

My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,
Mitakuye Oyasin
(We are all related)
docbird