The power of being seen and heard

When kind words filled the spaces I didn’t realize were empty.

Photo by Rafael Garcin on Unsplash

I was sitting in a quiet Memphis hotel room last month, staring out at a gray morning, when my guy Will called.

His timing was impeccable.

I hadn’t realized how much I needed someone to check in — until he did.

The way that he did.

“You always land on your feet!” Will said.

In addition to being a confidant, Will is a loyal Money Talks subscriber.

That morning’s column was about needing a root canal — the financial burden of it, anyway. What I didn’t write about was the emotional toll: the stress, the feeling of being worn down, not just by the cost, but by everything I’d been carrying.

(If you’re tracking the dental drama: temporary crown went in on Wednesday. Permanent one goes in on June 2. Pray for my molar!)

Needing a root canal made me insanely nervous. I hadn’t been this skittish since getting my wisdom teeth pulled nearly 20 years ago. Meanwhile, car repairs and an overdue vehicle registration had piled up. My finances felt under siege: three- and four-figure invoices landing left and right.

And there I was, in a sleepy Memphis hotel room, missing precious time with my Parker.

It was all just … a lot.

Not catastrophic. Not life-altering. But it was enough to make me feel like I was losing my grip.

Then, empathy rang.

“You’ve got nine lives!” Will exclaimed.

Long before Money Talks ever existed, Will was already a constant, a steady presence through some of my toughest moments. He’s been there through divorce and dating, child support and co-parenting, and all the messiness that comes with relocating and restarting. And now, here we were, talking about root canals.

It’s funny how life keeps shifting, but Will’s always shown up when I needed him most. Drinks here. Dinner there. A listening ear, always.

Four weeks ago, Will’s helping hand came in the form of a simple phone call.

He didn’t ask questions or offer advice. Instead, he delivered a powerful vote of confidence. Not the kind you hear every day, but exactly the kind that lands when you’re quietly trying to hold it together.

Will was praising me for traits I was too busy stressing to see in myself. He essentially labeled me a survivor — someone who always finds a way forward, even when life seems determined to hold you back.

Then he said something that told me he’d read all the way through that Thursday morning column last month.

“I thought to myself, 'Of course he socked money away,'” Will said, impressed that I’d saved for the root canal in my HSA.

I smiled.

Maybe for the first time that morning.

I felt seen and heard. Understood and acknowledged. Not just for what I do, but for who I am.

It didn’t fix everything. But it shifted something in me that morning. Like a reset I didn’t know I needed. My shoulders dropped. My thoughts cleared. For the first time in days, I felt a flicker of ease. A little more grounded. A little more like myself. It gave me a jolt of confidence right when mine was running low.

A well-timed call. A few kind words. They reminded me I wasn’t alone on life’s arduous journey.

We all need to be seen. Not just glanced at, but truly noticed. For who we are, where we’ve been and what we carry quietly. We need someone to look at us and say, “I see you,” without judgment or agenda.

So if someone crosses your mind today, don’t just think about them. Reach out.

You never know — your voice might be the one that helps them hold it together.