The Little Village That Learned to Listen

Once upon a time, there existed a little village way up high in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

It was a small village. The winters were known to be harsh, and the summers sweltering. Although there were limited resources in this mountain town, it had become widely known for its quaintness and beauty.

Travelers came from distant places to experience it in all seasons. Some came for mountain adventures. Others came for the food and drink. And still others came for the trinkets and sweets that were sold on Main Street.

The important thing was that the travelers came.

And the little village understood this.

Without the travelers, the existence of the little village was threatened. Without the travelers, the people of the mountains would not have enough to live on. The restaurants, shops, and businesses built for the travelers would disappear.

A funny thing started happening in the little village. It was subtle at first, and no one really paid much attention. In fact, no one noticed at all for several years.

It was a random winter day when a woman arrived. She had come to visit her brother, who lived in the village. She had never been before, and when she saw the mountains, she instantly fell in love with the place and decided to stay and put down roots.

From all appearances, she looked just like everyone else in the little village. She spoke the same language, dressed similarly (although she desperately needed some appropriate mountain clothes), ate the same food, and drank the same drinks.

What wasn’t apparent was her special gift of hearing.

And it was because of this special gift that she noticed something right away.

The people of the little village were shouting.

All the time, they shouted.

It didn’t matter the day, time, or circumstance. They shouted everything they had to say.

“Come to my shop!” some shouted.

“Buy my beer!” others shouted.

“Pay me for my services!” still others shouted.

And with everyone shouting at the same time, you can imagine it created quite a collective noise.

The town square was the loudest. Villagers would often gather to shout about their misfortunes and disappointments. Some complained about their neighbors. Others expressed their fears about the future. There were a few who shouted praises for their happy experiences, which was easier for the woman to hear above the usual drum of noise.

The woman got accustomed to plugging her ears every time she left her house, which was located right beside the town square. Her gift of hearing made her sensitive to all the noise.

Although she loved the little village and the people in it, she struggled with all their shouting.

“Why does everyone shout here?” she asked a shop owner one summer day.

“What do you mean?” the shop owner asked. “That’s the way everyone talks here. You have to shout so you can be heard.”

The woman thought to herself, “How is anyone hearing anyone else if they’re all shouting?”

She pondered this in her heart for quite some time. She started escaping to the mountains for silence, which ironically sounded just as deafening as the shouting in contrast.

It was in the mountains, in the silence, where she had a wonderful idea.

“I know what I’ll do,” she said to herself.

And she returned to the little village with a spark in her heart and a plan in her mind.

She began to build.

Board by board, she constructed a great high platform right in the middle of the village.

“What are you doing?” asked several of the villagers.

“I’m making a space for you,” she replied.

They didn’t know what she meant.

Pretty soon, the great high platform was finished, and the woman realized that she had to do some shouting of her own to get everyone’s attention.

It was quite uncomfortable for her. She didn’t like shouting. But she knew it was necessary.

“You’re invited to listen!” she shouted from the great high platform.

Her voice was shaky and strained.

No one heard her.

Everyone kept shouting their usual things: buy this, go here, do that. No one paid any attention to the woman on the platform.

But then she asked one of the shop owners to join her.

“Will you come sit with me?” she asked quietly.

And the shop owner, though nervous to be up so high in front of the whole village, agreed and climbed up the platform.

“What is it you’d like to say?” the woman asked the nervous shop owner.

Suddenly, the entire village became quiet.

You see, this shop owner had been part of the little village for quite some time and was well respected by the villagers.

“I’d like to tell everyone how I got here,” the shop owner said timidly.

And she started telling her story.

But she was so nervous and afraid that she lost her ability to shout, which meant the entire village stopped shouting so they could hear her.

“We can’t hear you!” some of the villagers cried out. “Speak louder!”

But the great high platform was so high that the villagers’ cries couldn’t reach the ears of the woman or the shop owner.

So the villagers worked together to make a sign, and they held it up as fast as they could, pointing at it, trying to get the attention of the two on the platform.

“Speak up! We can’t hear you!” the sign said.

And the shop owner and the woman read the sign at the same time and smiled.

The little village was now listening intently.

The shop owner told her story, and the whole town listened in awe.

This shop owner had traveled from a continent far away and ended up in the little village without apparent reason or logic. She had experienced fear and loss and learned how to continue on through hard times without losing hope.

The shop owner told the little village that everything happens for a reason, even when it’s something hard, and that someday it might make sense when looking back.

And the little village listened deeply and understood. Many villagers were inspired by the shop owner's story, and some even felt like they had been seen and understood too.

The shop owner felt inspired too. For the first time since arriving in the little village so many years ago, she felt the delightful effects of being seen and heard. And this brought healing to her heart.

The woman returned to her home that day with a smile so wide it touched her ears.

The shouting had at last quieted that day, and the sound of the shop owner’s voice and story was still resonating throughout the village.

As the woman got herself ready to head out into the mountains for the afternoon, she knew the shouting would return soon, and that was okay.

She now understood what the villagers needed. And perhaps, more importantly, the villagers now understood the power of listening: that it begins when one stops shouting, and that it is necessary for connection and healing.

-Amanda