This Year, I Realized I Wasn't the Listener I Thought I Was

This is the time of year when everything gets wrapped for us. I wanted to do something quieter. I wanted to unwrap my year.

The feeling reminded me of opening an old book, when you catch the faint fragrance of dried petals pressed between its pages. Something familiar. Something you'd forgotten was there.

I'm an introvert. I observe. I notice patterns. And for a long time, I assumed that made me a good listener. This year, I realized I wasn't. I was also a fast judge.

Through a mix of classes and long, one-on-one conversations, I started digging a little deeper, both into myself and into the people around me. When you sit with someone for that long, the cover comes off. You hear about detours and quiet resilience that never makes it into a bio.

Preparation for those conversations stopped being about clever questions or answers. It became about giving the conversation room to breathe. I noticed myself pausing more, listening longer, letting people finish the thought I thought I already understood.

To make sense of it all, I went back to writing. Not for an audience, but for myself. I'm still an introvert. I'm just learning to leave more space. I'll let that keep unfolding.