The Story Behind Showing I Care
Back in the end of 2020, I had a remote writing workshop in which I was to listen to other people and engage them without changing the topic of conversation to ourselves. The point was to show everyone that no matter how insignificant they thought their stories were, that other people would care about them. That’s something I myself struggle with, and the view counters I have for my website don’t help.
I’ve never been good at listening and thinking at the same time. In class, I could either take notes, or try thinking about what was being said. The former ensured that I had the notes to refer to later and that I would pay attention. The latter guaranteed I would end up zoning out and miss everything. So I took notes, paid complete attention, and didn’t think about anything being said.
This workshop took me by surprise. I struggled through it, and began to wonder if there was something wrong with me. Of course, this was 2020, and I hadn’t seen many people all year, so I was out of practice with… being a person. After messaging with a friend of mine, I found myself constantly wanting to steer the conversation toward myself. I realized then that I do that to show I understand what someone’s saying. I don’t mean to steal the spotlight, only to show that I’m listening and that I understand.
After that conversation, I wrote Showing I Care to express how I felt. Sometimes I feel like it’s hard to be a person, but I know the people about whom I care will understand that. So I’ll keep trying, so they know I care.
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