Archangel Michael was discussing the future of the blog with me in mid-2019 and I was beginning to get a bit frightened. I said to him, requesting clarification, “I’m not very social.” And he replied:

AAM: I am not saying, dear heart, that you need to attend cocktail parties.

Steve: Yes, thank you. I’d like to skip that.

AAM: It is not in the nature of your being. Yes, genuine friendships, support, laughter and camaraderie. But to put on a false front? No. That is simply not the meaning of leadership. That is very often the meaning of manipulation. (1)

Thank heavens. No film festivals, no prize ceremonies, no world cruises.

After the Reval, when the real work will begin, I plan to lead as normal a life as possible.

After seeing all this, I said to myself, OK, in light of this, where do you see yourself going? And I saw myself at a conference and the Golden Age of Gaia had set up a booth. There were two comfortable armchairs and a coffee/tea maker. I would sit there during free times at the conference. The sign above the booth read, “I’m here to listen.”

And that’s all I did at the conference.  Make myself available to listen. That was what the West Coast Express was about as well, wasn’t it? Both Kathleen and I are listeners.

My template for being CEO of Michaelangelo & Partners is “The CEO as Listener.”

Let me look at that for a moment.

I’d like to say that listening is easy and I used to say that decades ago.  But good listening is not. To really get where a person is coming from, hear all of what’s happening, and stick around for where they want to go – perhaps for a second run-through at an emotional rather than a story level – is work.

But the result can be another’s freedom from a persistent, vexing issue.

This freedom may never arise as long as the person is not listened to. Not being listened to, they may never have had a chance to lay all their cards on the table. They’ve never seen all that happened, what they’re up against, what they’re dealing with.

Seeing it all can cause an explosive realization. “Oh, THAT‘s what this is all about! Oh, I feel so relieved.”

Yes, the truth just set you free.

In my opinion, listening is the most-beneficial, least-known human therapeutic practice since the Mother birthed civilization.  But of course I’m biased.

So don’t expect me to have a lot to say if you see me at a conference. I say enough here. In person I like to listen.  And I know its value.

Footnotes

(1)  Archangel Michael in a personal reading with Steve Beckow through Linda Dillon, Aug. 2, 2019.

https://goldenageofgaia.com/2020/07/21/the-value-of-listening-2/

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The Royal Dawning – art by A. Andrew Gonzalez

Gratitude to all artists. Any queries or information, please contact me, Shekinah