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March Musing from Rebecca Crichton: What Are You Learning?

A veteran journalist friend has a habit which can be either annoying, stimulating, or a combination of both. When I tell him about something I have read or heard that interests me, he says, “What did you learn?” Whatever my answer is, he repeats: “What did you learn?” Another answer, perhaps a variation on the first one, and he says it again. “What did you learn?”

This interrogation technique seems separate from my answers. I am not alone in taking umbrage at what feels like a refusal to hear what I am saying. I wind up thinking he wants some ‘right’ answer I haven’t landed on.

The last time it happened, I changed my lens. Instead of feeling put on the spot – and stupid in the process – I saw the question as an opportunity to dig in and think about what I really learned. What had kept me engaged and impacted by what I had read or heard? What hooked me?

This shift in perspective was a game-changer. It reminded me of several therapeutic practices where the purpose of repeating a question — What matters most? Who are you? or other queries — is to deepen discovery and understanding.

Monica Guzman in her book, I Never Thought of It That Way, chronicles her realization that her interviews sometimes felt too superficial. Although the person she was interviewing answered each question, she wanted more depth. She learned that to go deeper, the next question should be based on the person’s first answer.

How do we remind ourselves not to stay on the surface of whatever we’re hearing, reading, and talking about but to plumb more deeply for meaning?
 
Superficiality is the way our society functions. Our standard greeting: “How are you?” has a standard answer: “Fine!” That is all right provided the person we are encountering is actually fine. If we want to really know how someone is, we need to ask the next question: What’s going on? How are you really? That invitation opens the possibility for deeper connection.
 
Elsa Bowman, this month’s contributor to our new feature, What We Learned, is a master letter writer. She is now collecting and editing her many years of letters to discern and share her insights as she navigates the realities of being in her nineties.
 
We returned to Daylight Saving Time the second weekend in March. The Daphne Odor is blooming and the forsythia budding. As we navigate a difficult and challenging time in our world, breathing in spring’s sweetness can remind us to stay present.
 
Enjoy the increasing light and sweet aromas!
Rebecca

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NWCCA’s Collaboration with Town Hall

Monday, April 14, 7:30 PM
The Medhi Reading Room, Town Hall Seattle
1119 8th Avenue, Seattle

The Healing Arts and the Path of Service
Cedron Sterling with Rebecca Crichton

Cedron Sterling, LMT has shared his mastery of the healing arts of massage and Myofascial Release for more than three decades with clients and other healing practitioners. He will discuss his serendipitous and pre-ordained journey into the wide field of energy and body healing. His work has benefited clients confronting chronic pain, emotional distress, and end-of-life concerns.