What a beautiful post. I think I have been practicing in the last few months how to pause and really listen. I deal with a certain level of in-head distractedness that frequently invades my conversations (and other work), and I found that I was often trying to come up with answers and advice when I should have been... absorbing. Sometimes, it really just is about hearing and listening and letting those words and emotions bubble to the surface.

(FWIW, I have shelves of Buddhist books that I read, not so much because I am a practicing Buddhist and/or that I meditate regularly, but Buddhism has helped me to grope with a lot of the struggles in my life.)