{"id":1938,"date":"2015-10-31T13:50:30","date_gmt":"2015-10-31T19:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/songofjoy.ca\/?p=1938"},"modified":"2015-10-31T13:50:30","modified_gmt":"2015-10-31T19:50:30","slug":"seeing-and-being-seen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/songofjoy.ca\/?p=1938","title":{"rendered":"Seeing and Being Seen"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is my last post for October\u2019s 31 Days Writing Challenge. While I didn\u2019t write every day I was able to get a lot of the thoughts that have been percolating in my brain out onto the page. And I still have more things I\u2019d like to write so I think I\u2019ll continue with November\u2019s NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month)<\/a>. This one is less restrictive in that I can post anything \u2013 it doesn\u2019t have to follow a particular topic. So you\u2019ll continue to see more of me.<\/p>\n

~~~<\/p>\n

On to my post for October 31\u2026<\/p>\n

Something was shared with me that beautifully speaks to connection and vulnerability. There is a common greeting among some tribes in South Africa; it would be equivalent to saying \u201chello\u201d in English. The expression is Sawubona<\/em> which literally means, \u201cI see you\u201d. A common response to this greeting is Sikhona<\/em> which means, \u201cI am here\u201d. The order of the exchange is important as according to their tradition, until you see me, I do not exist. It\u2019s as if, when you see me, you bring me into existence. It means we do not exist without each other and our existence holds little meaning if we are not seen.<\/p>\n

This speaks to connection. We are wired to feel connected to others, to feel that we belong. How many times do we feel \u201cunseen\u201d, that people don\u2019t see who we really are or that we have no voice? I know I\u2019ve felt that lots. It is a horrible feeling and often tied to a sense of shame. Sometimes it wasn\u2019t \u2018safe\u2019 to be seen so I learned to hide myself. Unfortunately, for me, it also meant I hid myself from me \u2013 I didn\u2019t know who I really was (I\u2019m still growing into that as I learn to take down my vulnerability armour from the past).<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re in an environment where the people you long to feel connected to are using their energies to keep their vulnerability armour in place, it means they have limited capacity to actually \u201csee\u201d you and you don\u2019t feel \u2018safe\u2019 to be \u201cseen\u201d. So everyone stays walled up within themselves. It can be a vicious cycle.<\/p>\n

Yet I believe there is hope for us. If we collectively learn to take down the vulnerability armour and intentionally allow ourselves to be seen and then to intentionally see others, we will significantly increase our sense of connection with each other. And that\u2019s a good thing. It will take vulnerability \u2013 showing up and being seen always does. But the connection and empathy and love we will experience is absolutely worth it.<\/p>\n

The alternative is disconnection and staying walled up in our fortresses, not letting anyone in and not letting ourselves out. It might promise the illusion of being \u2018safe\u2019 but in the long run it crushes our souls.<\/p>\n

We need each other. We are shaped by each other. It is in our relationships that we experience love and belonging and connection and empathy. These are the things we need to walk through this world that is marred by struggle and pain. Without them, we are dying inside.<\/p>\n

So I want to encourage all of us to intentionally take small steps to \u201cshow up and be seen\u201d. To embrace vulnerability, even in small \u2018baby-steps\u2019 ways. To risk. And even though we will fall down sometimes, don\u2019t be afraid to get back up again. Find those people who truly care about you, let them carry you through the hard stuff. But don\u2019t shut yourself out from the world. Because we need you and the light that you bring and the Imago Dei that is represented in you. You are beautiful and you are loved and you are \u201cseen\u201d.<\/p>\n

Grace and peace to you this day.<\/p>\n

~~~<\/p>\n

In the vein of \u201cbeing seen\u201d, I\u2019m curious to \u201csee\u201d you and know who has been following me this month. If you could \u201clike\u201d my Facebook post link or add a comment here in the comments section, I would love that. Thanks!<\/p>\n

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This is my last post for October\u2019s 31 Days Writing Challenge. While I didn\u2019t write every day I was able to get a lot of […] Read More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/songofjoy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1938"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/songofjoy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/songofjoy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songofjoy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songofjoy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1938"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/songofjoy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1940,"href":"https:\/\/songofjoy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1938\/revisions\/1940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/songofjoy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songofjoy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songofjoy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}