Listening (without solutions)

For better or worse I am a solution oriented person. As a special education teacher and educational consultant, this is usually a good thing. However, it has taken my wife 13 years to train me to just listen to her problem instead of trying to solve it. 
Right now our twins are no longer sleeping through the night, there is discord in my extended family, underlying conflict at work and a national political scene that only belongs in nightmares. My mind wants to solve it all. It can’t.

What a humbling process it is to step back and listen to the present moment, holding space for the pain and solutions yet to come.

Really listening

I recently overheard one of my students humming a song I thought I knew. I began to sing it and taught him a new verse. He went along with it. Days later he handed me headphones and I really listened to that song. It was a completely different tune with different lyrics. It was much better than what I knew.

How do we make sure we are really listening? How will our experiences improve because of it?