Listening

Here's my take on it: When you know a person well, or when you think you know a person well: you stop really listening to them. We presume that we know their opinion or advice or reaction in advance, and they think they know ours. And sometimes, it is true. That's why we have this compulsive need to get to know new people all the time. Sometimes, we perhaps need someone who will listen in a different way, who doesn't know about the past, and so won't judge us by it.

At the same time, it's such a pity, isn't it? If only we could learn to listen without judging, without relegating what we hear to the shelf of been there-heard that, if only we could still look for novelty in the familiar!