What I Hear You Say Is Journaling
Create stillness, listen without forcing, and write the response that emerges.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 98%
Scoggins's journaling practice begins with the prompt “What I hear you say is” written on paper in a quiet place. The practitioner sets aside roughly fifteen or twenty minutes, places the phone out of reach, and listens rather than filling the silence with more activity. An answer may come quickly or not for ten minutes; when a first word appears, the writer follows it with the next without forcing the page. Scoggins interprets the resulting voice through his Christian faith and says the exercise helped bring order to problems that felt chaotic, as well as surface new ideas. The practical mechanism is a bounded shift from active problem-solving to intentional listening followed by unedited writing.
Origin
A friend, Henry Ammar, introduced Scoggins to a short meditation and freewriting exercise during a difficult transition. Scoggins later developed it into a pen-and-paper listening practice.
Core principles
- 01Intentional listening requires stopping anxious activity.
- 02Silence does not need to produce an immediate answer.
- 03Writing one word can allow the next thought to emerge.
- 04Repeated stillness can surface clarity, ideas, and alignment.
- 05The practice reflects Scoggins's Christian faith and interpretation.
How to run it
- 1
Prepare a quiet place
Go somewhere in the home that feels peaceful and bring a journal and pen. Remove obvious sources of interruption.
Pro tip Complete any existing gratitude practice first if that helps you settle.
- 2
Write the prompt
Put the words “What I hear you say is” at the top of the page. Leave the rest of the page open rather than answering immediately.
- 3
Bound the silence
Set a timer for fifteen or twenty minutes and place the phone where the alarm can be heard but the screen cannot be checked.
Pro tip A bounded session reduces the urge to monitor how long the silence is taking.
Watch out Do not replace stillness with scrolling or checking the timer.
- 4
Listen without forcing
Sit quietly and allow the page to remain blank until a word emerges. Accept that some sessions may stay quiet for several minutes.
Watch out Trying to manufacture a dramatic answer recreates the striving the practice is meant to stop.
- 5
Follow the words
Write the first word and let the next word follow, continuing without editing the response into a preferred message.
Pro tip Use pen and paper to keep the process physically simple.
- 6
Review with discernment
Read the page after the listening period and identify any useful clarity, idea, or question. Keep consequential claims subject to independent evidence and appropriate advice.
Watch out Personal spiritual interpretation should not replace qualified professional guidance.
In the wild
Scoggins says there were sessions when nothing came for ten minutes. He would then write one word, allow the next word to form, and eventually fill a page that helped organize issues he had experienced as chaos.
→ The delayed response still produced a page of reflection rather than forcing an immediate answer.
Common mistakes
Turning listening into activity
Adding tasks, checking the phone, or forcing output prevents the quiet attention at the centre of the method.
Treating silence as failure
Scoggins sometimes waited ten minutes before the first word emerged, so speed is not the measure of the session.
Using reflection as proof
A journal can surface a direction or idea but does not independently validate consequential factual claims.
Is it for you?
Best for
People comfortable with reflective journaling, especially those who share Scoggins's faith-based approach to listening.
Not ideal for
Anyone who would treat unverified journal content as authoritative medical, legal, financial, or psychiatric guidance.
From the transcript
“write that sentence at the top of the the thing with a question mark, and I would just sit there and listen.”
“what I hear you say is which means we shut up. We stop we stop the anxious activity and we listen with intention.”
“Then there was times I was I would sit there for 10 minutes and nothing would come and then I write the one word and…”
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