Peek-A-Boo
Do you know what it feels like to be seen? That wonderful exchange between you and a gracious friend or loved one, who really steps outside their own experience to see you in yours, do you know what I mean?
One of my teachers at one of my programs, James Flaherty, asked me an intense question once. He asked, have you noticed how many people in our world are doing out of the ordinary things, just for the sake of being seen? His examples were about recent Olympians who had felt like if they didn’t win gold, all would be for not. And, I extended this notion, what about people who misbehave? For example, sometimes criminals seem to me to be just acting out for the attention they perhaps did not receive as a child. What about the loud, obnoxious person in a restaurant, about which we always say, “Oh, ignore him, he just wants attention.” Yes! That’s exactly what he wants, and perhaps a question we could ask ourselves is why someone needs attention so badly that they must act in uncomfortable or inappropriate ways to receive it. continue reading »