Listen Like You Mean It. How to Reclaim True Connection.png

Listen Like You Mean It: How to Reclaim True Connection

SGD 14.00

We have invented so many ways to protect ourselves from the risks of genuine connection. The small death of being truly seen, the vulnerability of being heard and found wanting, the heartbreak of discovering that another person cannot save us from our fundamental loneliness. And so we listen with reserve, with one ear tuned to escape, with the half-attention of those who have already decided what the other person will say before they say it.

But there is no aliveness greater than the moment when another person finally stops trying to rescue you and simply hears you. Here’s when listening becomes an act of recognition.

Ximena Vengoechea's Listen Like You Mean It is an invitation away from the comfortable distance we maintain in our conversations, toward the riskier territory where real connection lives. It is a guide to the small, consequential choice to show up fully to another person's words, to resist the urge to solve and save, to let silence mean something.

To listen like you mean it is to live like you mean it. To refuse the petrification of safety and engage with the uncertain, gasping, blood-filled reality of being in relation to another human being.

We have invented so many ways to protect ourselves from the risks of genuine connection. The small death of being truly seen, the vulnerability of being heard and found wanting, the heartbreak of discovering that another person cannot save us from our fundamental loneliness. And so we listen with reserve, with one ear tuned to escape, with the half-attention of those who have already decided what the other person will say before they say it.

But there is no aliveness greater than the moment when another person finally stops trying to rescue you and simply hears you. Here’s when listening becomes an act of recognition.

Ximena Vengoechea's Listen Like You Mean It is an invitation away from the comfortable distance we maintain in our conversations, toward the riskier territory where real connection lives. It is a guide to the small, consequential choice to show up fully to another person's words, to resist the urge to solve and save, to let silence mean something.

To listen like you mean it is to live like you mean it. To refuse the petrification of safety and engage with the uncertain, gasping, blood-filled reality of being in relation to another human being.

  • Orders ship within 3-5 business days via SingPost or courier service, depending on your location within Singapore. You'll receive tracking information once your order is dispatched.

    Delivery Time 1-3 business days for most Singapore addresses.

    Shipping Costs Free

    A Note on Timing This is a one-woman operation. During particularly busy periods or when I'm unwell, processing may take longer. I'll update the homepage if significant delays are expected.

  • Returns are handled on a case-by-case basis.

    If something arrives damaged, defective, or significantly different from what was described, contact me within 7 days of delivery with photos. I'll make it right.

    For other situations (changed your mind, ordered the wrong size, or it simply isn't what you hoped) email me. I'll do my best to find a reasonable solution, though I can't guarantee returns in every case.

    This approach allows me to be fair and flexible while sustaining a very small operation.

  • About This Shop

    This shop exists in a transitional moment. The items here are inventory from a previous business. One built with different priorities, questions, and a different sense of what mattered. Over time, that business stopped reflecting how I think and what I want to say. So I let it go.

    What remains are these products: well-made, functional, some I still believe in completely, others that represent a version of my taste I've since outgrown. They're here because I'd rather see them used than stored, and because closing one chapter means clearing space for the next.

    This explains the pricing. These aren't luxury goods positioned at luxury prices. They're priced to move, well below their original retail value, because my goal is completion, not profit.

    What This Shop Isn't

    This isn't a carefully branded lifestyle destination. There's no aesthetic through-line being sold, no vision of the good life you can purchase in installments.

    It's not a manifesto in retail form.

    It's not permanent. When this inventory is gone, this shop may close, transform, or become something else entirely.

    On Selling Things

    To offer something for sale is to enter a complicated exchange. You're saying: this object is worth your money, your space, your attention. That claim should be made carefully.

    I'm making it less carefully here than I would if starting fresh, because these items already exist. They were already manufactured, shipped, stored. The environmental and economic cost has been paid. The question now is whether they can be useful rather than wasteful.

    Some of these things I'd buy again. Others taught me what I don't need. Both kinds are here.

  • For questions about orders, products, or anything else:

    Email: ann@greataveruins.com

    I typically respond within 1-3 business days. I'm running this alone, which means responses may occasionally be slower during especially busy periods or personal circumstances. Your patience is genuinely appreciated.