Walking through Central Park one morning, a father and son passed by going the other way. They walked slowly, engrossed in each other. As they went by, I heard the father slowly telling a story to the boy. The father’s voice was animated and excited, and yet hushed so that the two of them could share the story in a private, intimate kind of way. As they went on by, I began to muse about how impacting this father’s story was on his son, whose attention was rapt and complete. I wondered about the lessons in the story, the reasons the father would choose to share this particular one on this particular morning.

As I continued to walk along, my thoughts included the ways in which we all share stories with one another, the ways in which we constantly and automatically fill one another with words and meanings. Then, I began to ponder how often we may or may not recognize the effect and impact our shared stories, words, beliefs, and meanings have on one another. For example, do we think of the impact on the other person when we share a negative story about someone we both know? Do we imagine the effects of sharing something scary we heard in the news? Do we deliberately share good news and positive stories to uplift and nourish those around us? Do we avoid sad stories that others need to hear in order to feel better or share their own sad feelings?

As I write this, I think of the healing thought my sister leaves on my answering machine each morning, and the check-in messages from a close friend who wishes me well each day. I also leave messages for each of them each morning, as a way of connecting and offering some nourishment for the day ahead. And, it’s not that we don’t also share sad and negative stories, although we make a practice of attempting to do so as mindfully as possible.

Many of us go on auto-pilot when we talk with friends and family, and give no real thought to the power of our words and meanings on the internal experience of others, unless we choose to take it on as a conscious practice. For this week’s experiment, I invite you to explore your own relationship with sharing stories, sharing meaning, sharing beliefs and expectations. I invite you to take into consideration the impact of your words on others before you speak them, and to discover what it’s like to perhaps decide not to share something after all.

And, you might want to use this experiment to become more aware of the effect on you of what you hear from others. Just as we often share on auto-pilot, we also can listen on auto-pilot, without deeply registering in awareness the impact of what we’re hearing. We may not know when to stop listening.

When playing with this experiment, please remember to leave judgment behind and bring along curiosity as your companion. The key here is to discover a deeper awareness of how we share with one another, not to catch yourself doing something wrong.