I used to believe . . .

. . . that everyone needed to be heard. Now I think that we get so caught up in pining for understanding that we stop paying attention to what it is that we have to say.

Sometimes I am guilty of sending flares up, crying out to be heard.

But no one can ever walk in our shoes. And I'm not so sure we even are well-acquainted with the actual person who does wear our shoes. 

It would be better if I listened, it would be better if I felt the pulse of the universe instead of always yearning to be listened to and understood.