I was helping a client at work yesterday and for the majority of time I was just sitting there listening, nodding, and just doing all I can to support her and just for her to know that I was there for her. Before she started talking, she was crying for the most part and was talking about how bad of a thanksgiving day it was for her and how much being around her family makes her feel like a burden. This was my second time talking to her and most of the stories the first time were about her experiences with others and how much she had being going through. While talking she brought up the Ghost Rider movie series and asked if I had seen them. I told her no and she highly recommended it and talked about how a particular scene in one of the movies was similar to her personal experience.
These movies have been out for a long time probably when I was younger but I have never had any interest in them or maybe they weren't my particular kind of vibe but to her they were the best and the joy that she had when talking about some of these scenes made me realize something important. Sometimes all we have to do is listen to people and just do all we can to understand their interests and come into their world. We shouldn't be listening to have a response or judge them but just to come into their world. In her world these were one of the best movies and how she talked about the scenes has raised my interest in seeing them. There are things sometimes that we may not particularly like, be interested in, or see as important but for others it may be the greatest thing and that's okay.
All we can do is try to be understanding and come into their world and see what in these things make the person interested. It is a form of mystery and trying to uncover that mystery. By the end of our talk she had gone from crying to laughing and was able to tell me some of her personal stories to where I kept asking some questions to show her that I was interested in knowing more and that in turn helped me learn a lot about somethings I didn't know too much about. One thing I always say is we never stop learning and there are always things we can uncover. We have to be willing to go against what we may be used to or our personal opinions to come into the world of others and see what about the things they are interested in draws them to it. This doesn't necessary mean we have to force ourselves to like what others like or be interested in things just because they are but it does make us more open minded. Being open minded helps remove any limits we make up for ourselves when it comes to certain things and gives us the foundation to explore things that may be out of our comfort zone.
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