On Being Seen

After a very long hiatus from writing, feeling for some time like I don't have a lot to say and that there are so many words "out there" or just that we have become so saturated with words, many without action behind them.  Things and thoughts have been brewing around in my mind, bouncing around, not really sure how to get onto paper.

Someone I work with, recently asked me if I was still writing my blog, I had no idea she had read it.  This right around the same time I was thinking about writing again.  So maybe it was a prodding I needed.

Lately, I've been thinking about the idea of being seen and known to each other, letting others in to deeper parts of who we are.  Maybe magnified by having teenagers is the whole social media appearance of self, and the extensive infiltration of the internet to comment on everything and about everything and everybodyin the world and have an opinion or critique of all things.

Why is it everyone has to know everything about everyone? Post about all the details of life? Care about how many "likes" you get on a photo?  And who is really listening? Or are we just formulating our own opinions before stopping to listen, because that is what we are "supposed to do"?  And on the flip side, how do we show we actually do care?  Be different and not driven by the fast pace and the large, maybe not as deep social circles that permeate. How do we stay involved in each others' lives, really know one another and share.

I'm totally a details person. I do want to know details about people, but maybe not all of them about everyone.  Where do we find the balance in all this?

I hear the cry... to be seen... to be noticed... to be cared about.  And how much of oneself do you want to show, to the world, to watching eyes, without acknowledgement of the risk, the vulnerability?   It takes trust to go there.  It takes trust to show more than only an inch deep of who you are.  I want to wrap my arms around the girls who are posting for attention, and longing for a close friend to whisper secrets to in the quiet.

To really be seen.  To tell them to stay true to yourself, discover who you are, and the extreme value of sharing part of your soul with someone.

Someone sees you, in the depths of your heart and your soul. 

Living with 3 introverts has taught me so much!  When I do those personality tests, I come out confused and different every time, somewhere in the middle, but in this house, I am the extrovert!  They have taught me balance between refueling and socializing.  How they want to be seen, and be known, but  only by the people they choose to let in, a closer circle, and what a gift that is!!  That being said, a lot of attention is being paid to introverts since the Quiet book came out.  And E says today after reading something trite about making introverts feel loved, "they make it sound being an introvert is a mental illness."

So, writing a blog is also risking being seen.  Come on in, and let's have real good brew of loose leaf tea together! And if you like coffee, I'm getting better at brewing it...!!