The Importance of Being Seen
I write this entry with a humble and open heart. It has been quite some time since I have written on this blog and there a number of reasons why that has occurred. My life has been transitioning on a variety of levels over the last several months.
First, I have been negotiating the changes that come from being a single parent with three grown children. My youngest is about to fly from the nest, leaving to start her life. While I have been there two other times, this will easily be the most difficult adjustment as she is the last to leave. I will truly be an empty nester now.
Don’t get me wrong, there is certainly, the usual excitement and adventure associated with one leaving for college. The pride and the tears go hand in hand. Add to that each of my older daughters’ spring graduations; one who will graduate with her bachelor’s, and the other with her master’s. And — even more excitement surrounding the planning and anticipation of my oldest daughter’s June 2012 wedding. INDESCRIBABLE!! More smiles and tears…
In the midst of these personal joys, I have been hard at work – living, learning and experiencing a new profession. It’s fair to say that everyday has had its challenges — some days have been quite overwhelming. All in all, it has been scary good! I feel like I have finally come home.
What I have found through all this change, is a very different me. No matter how challenged or how overwhelmed; how scared or how joyful, I am discovering the very best of me. There has been a reckoning of sorts– the emotions and the changes have had an effect. They have caused me to take a step back and look inward.
Someone I love very much shared with me many times how important and meaningful it is to be “seen.” It’s everything in life. I have “seen” few, and been ”seen” by fewer. It’s an incredible feeling to look into someone’s soul and see and experience the essence of their being.
For me, I feel like I am seeing myself for the first time. I am more peaceful and content. My words and my thoughts now come from a place of love, acceptance and understanding.
That has not always been the case for any number of reasons. There has been emotional dishonesty because of painful times along the way. A portion of that pain I attribute to ignorance — ignoring true feelings and being unable or unwilling to express my deepest and innermost thoughts to those I love the most.
Many of my lessons learned have come from some type of loss. Unfortunately for me, there have been high prices to pay–heartbreak and lost love. But life is the true teacher and these realizations and many changes in recent times have not gone unnoticed. In the past, their message fell upon deaf ears and an aching heart. The message has been received by a different student this time.
I have stared down my life to date and see my future with new eyes. It looks and feels promising. There are very bright lights and they are shining on what I now know to be truly important – accepting yourself, acknowledging what’s in your heart, seeing and being seen.
