The Good Listening Project

From our Executive Director Dr. Annie Brewster

I recently had the great experience of engaging with The Good Listening Project (TGLP), a wonderful organization fully aligned with Health Story Collaborative in their mission of "supporting the humans in healthcare." 

TGLP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to humanizing healthcare through the healing power of poetry and compassionate presence. In each session, a Listening Poet creates space for conversation and deep listening with a "poemee" (me in this case!), and then creates an origin story and a poem in response. The process is open to healthcare providers, non-medical caregivers, and patients alike. I highly recommend working with the this inspiring organization! I found it to be a very meaningful experience. Thank you, TGLP! Special shoutout to my Listening Poet Julia McDonald! What a gift! Here are the origin story and poem she created for me. 

Origin Story: 

She’s many things: A doctor, a writer, a storyteller, a mom of four kids, a patient with a chronic disease. In all these roles, her desire to foster deep connection in relation to others is what she loves most.

Her journey to catalyze healing (both in herself and others) led her to establish a nonprofit story collaborative for patients and families. Currently, she is leaning more deeply into the transformative act of listening.

“As doctors, we are trained to fix things,” she said, “but how do we hold space for healing when no cure is available?” Within a profession that values action, she is learning to be present without needing to “do something.” She sometimes worries that surrendering into acceptance (rather than “fighting” a disease) will allow a diagnosis to swallow her or subsume her, but she knows that healing of the soul is sometimes more important than curing the body.

Poem: 

Invocation to Be Present

Let me sit with you in silence,

for some things are not to be fixed.

Let me try harder to do less:

Let us lay it all down, let it go.

Let me sit with you in silence,

for you are the narrator and main character.

Let me be a catalyst for your healing:

Nothing is in our control except that choice.

Let me sit with you in silence,

dissolving through boundaries into surrender.

Let me feel comfortable with your suffering:

My discomfort serves as a mirror.

Let me sit with you in silence,

offering presence without action.

With hands soft and heart open, let me

witness your journey of transformation.

Health Story Collaborative