Kathryn Spence: Eisakouó: Deeply Heard
… I walk across the first mini
bridge of Old Town and I am starting to get anxious. Will he be there? I
quickly walk into the next opening and I am now at the opening of the rows of
shops. No, he is not. Hopefully he will be here, though. After all, I don’t
have that much time left here in Greece.
There’s a slight breeze that is
carried throughout the night. It’s getting very late but it’s not exactly dark
yet even with the navy skies and the deep plum clouds. I can see my way because
of all the lights from the individual booths and the hole in the wall
restaurants that line the entrance of Old Town. I can feel the large smooth—but
slightly uneven—stones underneath my handmade leather sandals and let my feet
go to auto pilot. This sand-and-stone colored castle stretches for almost three
miles by the ocean and I know it inside and out. It has huge archways with
wooden doors, fountains, and colored small pebbles making mosaics of flowers,
seashells, and other diverse designs every so often. I sit down on the cold
smooth cobble stones and try to get comfortable. After a while the stones start
to warm up to my body heat and I start to relax. A tortoiseshell tabby cat
with lime green eyes keeps me company while I look at my surroundings and the
people walking by. It must be a Thursday because are people walking by me
heading to the bars located deep inside the maze of Old Town. Honestly, it’s
their loss for what they are going to miss.
After about 40 minutes an old Greek
man walks up to the bench far across from me. He is dressed in all black, has
wavy gray hair to his shoulders, and carries a guitar in a black case. He pulls
out his guitar, gets comfortable, and begins to play. Some people stop for a
second or two and drop some coins, but most people continue to walk past him. I
on the other hand have been prepping for this all day and have the best seat in
Old Town. Traditional Spanish music fills the entire opening of the Old Town
because of the acoustics of the architecture. The music floods the corridors
and echoes out into the dark skies of Greece. I start to wish that everyone
could hear what I am hearing and I call my dad. It’s about 11PM over here but
it is still 4PM in the US and he is at work. He can’t even hear the guitar. I
sigh, tell my dad I love him and sadly end the call and continue listen to the
music by myself. I sit there for about two hours just listening to the
guitarist play. His songs seem to blend in to each other and he never takes
breaks between songs. When it started to reach midnight, I started to get ready
to head back to my apartment. I wonder at what hour does the guitarist finally
pack up his things and go home. I start to slowly walk back and look back to
the guitarist who is still playing. I wanted to soak in so much of this moment
and I was desperate to make sure this was a permanent one. I didn’t expect him
to notice me but he looked up at me as I was leaving. He waves to me and I
quickly run back. I don’t know enough Greek and I wonder how to express my
appreciation. I say to him “your music was amazing. Thank you for sharing” and
drop all of my coins that I have. He stops playing briefly and thanks me for
“being such a good listener”. I smile to myself and walk the cobble
stones back to my apartment.
Typically, people would have just
let go of this compliment. However, to me this means that I am going in the
right direction in life. I have wanted to be a school counselor since I left
high school. In order to do this, it is highly suggested that you should have
unconditional positive regard and be a good active listener. I know that it is
completely different from being an active audience member and an active
counselor but it resonated with me. My friends have always been able to come to
me to vent and to receive advice. My friends always ended the vent session with
“Thanks, you helped a lot”, “you make me feel at ease to tell you anything”,
and “you’re a really good listener”. Any good friend would say something along
those lines to show they are supportive of your dreams. But it made me take a
step back and realize that I am a “good listener” and I am going to work even
harder to continue to be to my future clients.
