Retired social worker listens to strangers across Canada – Courtesy of Paul JenkinsonA former social worker in Canada is enjoying his retirement in a very similar way to how he enjoyed his long career: by listening to people.
Likening it to being the “stranger on the airplane” in the seat next to you, Paul Jenkinson is currently on a cross-Canada tour where he shows up, sits down, and listens—to anyone, and about anything.
Good listening is a skill rarely found in the world, and during a career as a registered social worker in Nova Scotia and spokesperson for Advocates for Care of the Elderly, it was part of the job description.
I Will Listen isn’t an event—it’s just two folding chairs as a wooden cafe table—but it is coming to a town near you.
“I’m there as a fellow human to make connections,” Jenkinson told the host of CBC News’ As It Happens. “I just create that safe space for them, a little bit like the stranger on the airplane that you’re never going to see again.”
How many people do you know who’d love someone that isn’t a therapist or a family member to just sit down and talk to? Jenkinson says that those who eventually take him up on his offer don’t tend to do so immediately.
“I think they’re curious, for sure. ‘Who is this older man?'” he said. “People go back and forth a few times, surreptitiously as it were, getting some courage to come and sit down.”
CANADIAN KINDNESS: A Waiter in Canada is Learning Cree to Better Serve Customers: ‘Immediately People Would Light Up’
He added that it’s not all lost students and recovering addicts. Sometimes, people want to come express the things they’re proud of or the good deeds they’ve performed, including volunteering for others just like Jenkinson.
There’s no timeline, no topics barred, no charge, and no pressure, as well as a promise to keep everything confidential unless the speaker expresses the intention to harm themselves or others.
SIMILAR INDIVIDUALS LIKE THIS: Retired Colonel Heals Thousands of Addicts with Empathy, Yoga, and Service
Oh, and he doesn’t have a home. Jenkinson isn’t destitute, he’s a transient with financial means, and will come anywhere he’s invited. At the moment he’s in Nova Scotia, with the next stop being Prince Edward Island, and a loosely conceived plan to be in British Columbia by winter.
SHARE This Great Man’s Important Mission With Your Canadian Friends…
Source link