Hey all! It’s approximately 20 minutes before I usually publish my weekly post and I am just now able to sit down at my computer. It’s one of the those weeks. (I actually think it’s always one of those weeks…)
So, this week, I am going to share a poem that I wrote recently. I saw a video on the Internet-groundbreaking, I know- and it inspired me to write this poem.
Social issues
I’ve been watching videos of a street photographer taking surprise photos of people, printing them and gifting it to them right away.
Everyone cries or almost cries when they see the photo.
A picture of them from an angle they have never seen before.
Why do we cry when we get a chance to see ourselves?
Why do we all long so deeply to be seen?
Why can’t we see ourselves for our true beauty until someone else shows it to us?
If we can see our beauty from afar, what could we do if we saw it up close?
Can we believe in the zoomed out view?
I also happen to love watching street artists draw or paint people on the street or in the Subway car in big cities. There are millions of people all around us in the world and yet, there are no duplicates. Even identical twins will have slight differences. We are all entirely unique. A beautiful mosaic of skin and bones and cells and blood and electrons and carbon and water and stardust. Each a masterpiece.
(I was going to use a stock photo but figured it would make more sense to use a photo of myself. So here you go. It’s me.)
Seeing this beauty in ourselves is rare. We must try to view ourselves through someone else’s lens. What if you could see yourself from across the street? What would you think?
Think about someone you love and how you look at them.
What can you do to see yourself like that?
Some food for thought on this rainy Thursday evening in Nashville.
Sending love to you out there in the ether.
Stef
Here is a song that is very welcoming. Think about singing this to yourself. Welcoming yourself back home if you can’t find belonging out in the world.