Heroic Listening, Part 2 - Rhymth

Every Monday, I sit with teenagers in recovery.
Drugs. Mental health. Trauma. Real life, not discovery.

If I want them to actually learn communication,
I can’t lecture my way through a metaphorical or other explanation.

So we tell stories, then I turn it into a game,
I secretly choose one liar, no one knows the name.

Everyone else tells the truth, straight and clean,
At the end, the group guesses what fibs they’ve seen.

Something shifts—heads up, ears perked, eyes alive,
People lean in, start to really listen and try.

What I’ve learned is nothing mystical:
People don’t listen when they’re told—
They do it when listening is critical.

In this case they wanted to win the same.
But winning in real life, the game’s the same.

Have fun out there,
Orly