Why do we share our poems and their origin stories?

“Poetry holds what cannot be said.” - On Being Podcast with Krista Tippett

We share the value of good listening to help alleviate the stress and burnout that greatly affects people within the healthcare system. Together we are cultivating resilience and wellbeing while laying down a legacy in writing.

• To highlight the humanity within the healthcare industry

The poems we write are inspired by the stories that healthcare workers, medical students, patients, and their supportive communities tell us. These poems and their origin stories highlight the humanity within the healthcare system, giving voice to care providers and those they serve.

• To make meaning

Poetry is a powerful tool for making meaning and understanding our experiences. We ask each person what they would like a poem about, and then we listen. This offers participants an opportunity to reflect on their memories, feelings, questions, aspirations, doubts, and hopes.

• To connect

By offering a safe space where people can share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences, we can help support resilience and wellbeing. The lasting effect of feeling heard can reach across many lives.

Engaging with these stories helps people connect with each other, as well as their own emotions. Creating an archive of poems and their origin stories offers readers a chance to feel less alone in their experiences.

How do we share the poems and stories?

We always share poems and their origin stories anonymously. We never refer to our participants by name and never tag them in social media. We do this to protect our participants’ identities and create a safe space to share their stories.

We are HIPAA compliant. Respecting the trusted nature of the conversations from which these poems are created protects all participants.

We share the anonymized poems and their origin stories in a variety of ways, including through printed or digital collections, and on our website, newsletter, and social media. We acknowledge and tag the event, healing center, or institution where the story was originally told so that others who are connected to these places may also have access to the benefits of this work.

• Publishing for Collections

We create printed and/or digital collections of the poems and their origin stories that are customized for our clients and distributed through those organizations. The collections are also available here with a suggested donation of $25 for a hardcover copy.

• Publishing for Social Media & other Marketing Platforms

To reach a larger audience, poems and their origin stories may be shared on various social media and marketing platforms, such as, but not limited to, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google Ads.

• For External Publications

Poems may be published in a separate media source or in a compilation by the poem recipient, the poet, or the organization. Please read our philosophy for attribution below for more details.

What is our philosophy for attribution of authorship and sharing rights?

At The Good Listening Project, we acknowledge that our poemees direct and inform our Listener Poets, who interpret and craft works under the guidance of the organization. Poemees are invited to request edits to the poems and poem origin stories in the service of accuracy, authenticity, and anonymity. Therefore, we have adopted a philosophy of equal rights to publishing of the works.

This means that TGLP, the client organization, the Listener Poets, and the participants all have equal authority to share or publish the poems as they wish, with appropriate attribution of authorship, except in cases when the poemee has explicitly requested the work remains private.* You are welcome to share your own poem (or an excerpt) with whomever you like and do not need the organization's permission to do so. If you choose to share your poem, please include the name of the Listener Poet who wrote the poem and the name of the organization, The Good Listening Project, so that others may also have access to the benefits of this work.  
 

* We offer poemees the chance to opt out of the publication of the poem and/or story created for them by their Listener Poet, in service of cultivating resilience and wellbeing in healthcare. Although we publish poems and stories to humanize healthcare workers by sharing accounts of their experiences, poemee wellbeing is our first priority. By giving poemees the right to refuse publication, we strive to create spaces of psychological safety where poemees can fully benefit from sharing what is on their minds. Occasionally, a Listener Poet may anticipate positive impact from sharing a poem and story despite the poemee’s initial opt-out. In those rare cases, the Listener Poet may request permission from the poemee to share their works in a specific, defined context.

When sharing your poem, how can you acknowledge the writer and organization?

Please include your Listener Poet’s name and The Good Listening Project.

We love connecting on social media! Please tag us:

• Instagram @TheGoodListeningProject
• Facebook @TheGoodListeningProject
• YouTube @TheGoodListeningProject
• Twitter @GoodListening

You can also include a summary of our mission and method:

The Good Listening Project helps build cultures of good listening to support resilience and wellbeing in healthcare systems. Inspired by the stories of healthcare staff, medical students, patients, and their communities, we listen and write custom poems based on these conversations to improve healthcare outcomes.

How long does it take your Listener Poet to compose your poem and how do we calculate pricing and fair compensation?

We value fair compensation and respect the creative process, and our pricing reflects that. Each Listener Poet dedicates two and a half hours on average for every listening session, from the start of the conversation, to composing the poem, to summarizing the conversation in a story, to sending it to the participant, to making any requested edits.

The composition process and the number of participants a Listener Poet might speak with throughout the day varies slightly for each partnership or event. We strive to send participants their poems within one week of the conversation, though on occasion, we may take longer to deliver a poem in order to give adequate care to the craft of translating a conversation into a meaningful work of art.

How can you opt out of sharing your anonymized poem and story?

Should you decide that you would not like your anonymized poem and story to be shared in any way, please submit this form. We will flag your poem, and your story will never be published or shared.

Occasionally, a Listener Poet may anticipate positive impact from sharing a poem and story despite your initial opt-out. In those rare cases, the Listener Poet may request permission from you to share their works in a specific, defined context.