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Tap to send me your reflections ♡ Gossip. Why we love it, how it serves us and other thoughts. Gossip is something we often lean toward. We love to listen to stories about other people we know, whether we know them directly or through their celebrity status or through the importance they hold in someone else’s life. It’s something that can really activate our level 1 and level 2 listening skills (I explain these in the episode). We all LOVE a story. And there’s plenty of research out there o...
Tap to send me your reflections ♡
Gossip. Why we love it, how it serves us and other thoughts.
Gossip is something we often lean toward. We love to listen to stories about other people we know, whether we know them directly or through their celebrity status or through the importance they hold in someone else’s life.
It’s something that can really activate our level 1 and level 2 listening skills (I explain these in the episode). We all LOVE a story. And there’s plenty of research out there on why we naturally engage in them.
And in any conversation with a family member, friend or stranger, where we want to create a meaningful outcome, story telling is a rich pool where we can find connection with others.
However!
When I was considering this, my feeling was that there’s an area around that pool that might seep into the slightly boggy land of gossip - and I think it’s a fascinating and sometimes obscure divide between the two.
And this is not to say that gossip doesn’t have its purpose - I talk a that too - but my sense is that SIMPLY noticing when the conversation starts straying into the land of ‘ooh, have you heard…’ could be something that really serves us, and serves those around us.
Quick note...
This reflection on what may benefit from our attention isn’t about the type of gossip that’s sharing someone else’s confidence or secret, or speaking maliciously about another person - I think we already know why that doesn’t benefit us or others.
It’s an attempt to explore the subtler realm of when things tip into that place when part of us may start to feel uncomfortable.
And my sense is that even thinking about this and writing this episode has sparked some discomfort for me - you may notice some as you listen - and it’s when we get those kind of cues in our body that I think there’s something asking for our attention. So I’m turning toward it - and maybe there’s something in here that you’ll find it useful in some way too.
Henny x
TO CONNECT
https://www.hennyflynn.co.uk/
REFERENCES
Robin Dunbar, Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language (Harva
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A space to settle in and listen, and see where the episode takes you. This inspiring, reflective podcast is an invitation to travel deeper, with compassionate self-enquiry.
Henny shares insights from her own life, alongside practices that help us connect with our inner wisdom, explore our relationship with change and find a greater sense of flow. Henny believes we all hold our own answers, so there are no one-size-fits-all solutions here. This is a space to be with what’s true for you, and to grow from there.
If you’re drawn to slowing down, listening in, and exploring what it means to live with greater authenticity, this podcast is for you. Guided by psychology, mindfulness, therapeutic coaching, flow journaling, and everyday compassion, we explore ideas that help us step further into our inner worlds, in order to shape the changes we seek in our outer worlds.