Is listening a form of love we give to another person? Have you noticed when you have the full attention of another person, and when they add on to the conversation it is evident they were listening to our words and intent? It seems true that listening to another in those important ways, is an act of love. In these hurried, fragmented times between appointments and devices our own listening patience may be fragmented too.

Do we expect someone’s focused attention when we are sharing something that makes us feel vulnerable? Aren’t those the times we can actually get closer to another person, in sharing our vulnerabilities? As we know, to be vulnerable takes a lot of courage. And trust.

Our listening gene and time may seem changed in terms of how we now best communicate in the age of ever expanding social media and apps. Personal sharing and vulnerability is usually a one-on-one act, not in a group necessarily or on Social media. Some of us may be out of practice, yet a way to show love is to listen to another person we care in ways that are about them, not ourselves. That often means we give them our undivided attention and they feel it.

If you’ve been a good listener or have someone in your life you know is a good listener, then that is an act of love.