March 03, 2025 · Takeshi Mori

An excerpt from the books of Takeshi Mori

In a typical conversation, person A speaks while person B prepares their response. B is not listening to A. B is waiting for A to stop talking so B can say what B wants to say. This is not conversation. It is alternating monologue.

Omoiyari asks you to listen differently. It asks you to listen as though you will never need to respond — as though your only task is to understand. When you listen this way, something remarkable happens. You begin to hear what is not being said.


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