I’ve been volunteering for a couple of hours at an aged care place near home. And a conversation with a resident recently struck me, leading me to write the poem below. The gist of their words “…we seem to place more value in animals and other things than people, these days…”
To listen is to honor!
Lately, Iâve been delighting in the quiet art of listening.
Not the kind where we wait for our turn to speak,
but the kind that slows down, settles in,
and makes room for another personâs story to breathe.
In those moments, time feels different.
Stories unfold gentlyâmemories, joys, regrets, wisdom gathered over years.
And Iâm reminded that every person carries a depth we often rush past.
It truly is a delightâalmost sacredâ
to simply be present.
To choose to sit, to hear, to honour a life not for what it produced,
but for what it has lived.
In a world that moves quickly, measures constantly,
and chases what is nextâ
these moments feel like a quiet return.
A return to what matters.
To connection.
To people.
And somehow, in listening to the elderly,
my own perspective is softened, widened, reshaped.
Perhaps we donât need more noise, more answers, more striving.
Perhaps we just need to delight in the little moments,
and listen a little longer.~ idauhahine, Mar-2026 ~
I donât know if theyâll remember saying those words to me, or even recognise me the next time I walk inâbut Iâve carried the truth of their words with me.
They’ve made me pause.
Maybe itâs part of growing olderâseeing more clearly just how quickly the world moves and changes. How easily it can feel like youâre being left behind. Like with every new season, thereâs a generation that becomes quieter, less seen⌠almost forgotten.
Thereâs so much depth, wisdom, and life still thereâwaiting to be heard.
Maybe thatâs what really listening doesâit helps to reshape and soften our perspective,
and to hold onto what the world is so quick to move past.
Bible đ
Job 12:12 KJV
[12] With the ancient is wisdom; And in length of days understanding.
To God be the glory always đ
Idau Hahine 