Reflections on Lovingkindness Day 3 of 10: Do you truly SEE Your child?
Do you ever go to the grocery store and realize that either you or the clerk did not even make eye contact or look at each other?
Do you ride in the elevator with someone, feel uncomfortable and look away or play with your phone to not interact with the person?
Do you perhaps avoid looking at the passers-by instead of making intentional eye contact?
Here’s my takeaway from Sharon’s Day 3 Meditation: Make an intention to see people!
Day 3 meditation was about sending loving-kindness to a neutral person. A person we don't feel one way or another. Perhaps a store clerk or someone we come in contact with once in a while.
As I was completing the meditation, is I realized how disconnected many of us are. We are looking through people instead of looking at them.
I used to do all that until I realized how much disconnection this looking through people was causing in my life.
We tend to objectify people instead of seeing them as unique beings right in front of our eyes with their fascinating life history, experiences, and talents.
When we don't pay attention to the people around us, who are just like us, by the way, this creates alienation, disconnection, and loneliness. We also wall ourselves off and close our hearts to experiencing other people and living fully.
The other issue is that "the way we do anything is the way we do everything." If we are disconnected in one place, likely, we are also disconnected in other areas like with your child.
Do you honestly see your child or just look at them as a sequence of good or bad behaviors? Do you genuinely pay attention to the person inside with their hopes, dreams, and desires, whatever they are? Do you see their joy, their sadness, their excitement, and love?
My invitation today is to truly practice seeing your child by looking at her rather than through her. You will begin to see your child in a whole new light which creates a deeper emotional bond.
I am also inviting you to send loving-kindness and deeply connect with each person you come in contact with so that you may have a sense of openness and belonging. This helps us move from the "I" mentality to a "we" mentality where we can fully realize and participate in the experience of common humanity.
May You BE Safe, BE Healthy, BE Happy and Live with Ease,
Paula
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