The Power of Being Seen

It is a lazy, late February morning, the last Sunday in February this year. I am puttering around the kitchen putting away things, straightening, enjoying my lukewarm lemon pepper water detox. Well, I am enjoying the morning, maybe not the lukewarm lemon pepper detox water.

It has been a very long time since I have felt seen, and recently, I met a man who has done just that. So far, I feel stable, like I can take a long, slow approach and not try to pin my hopes and dreams on one person. I was so afraid of jumping back in to the dating world. The ending of my marriage was 20 years ago in July of this year.... 20 years; and in that time, I have only casually dated and never had a long term intimate relationship. I worked really hard to be a strong presence for my daughters, to build a future that I could inhabit alone, on my own terms.

I won't lie; I'm terrified. Personal and intimate relationships are so difficult for me, and I often flee instead of address my insecurities. My daughters have repeatedly told me over the last couple of weeks to not overthink things and to not self-sabotage. On a sweet side note to my own struggle, I have been crushing on the Ukrainian President Zelensky. He has emerged on the social media stage as a defiant, brave leader of his country, and news reports are pouring out about him. Like Hemingway, I feel moved to step into another country's struggle.

His grandfather survived the Holocaust.

I have no words to explain that statement further. It speaks volumes, and any amateur historian understands the historic social implications of what Zelensky faces right now. I saw a tik tok yesterday that showed the Ukrainian young men in combat gear defending Kiev and contrasted that with the emasculated young men in America. It spoke volumes to what is at the root of the American dilemma.

The power of being seen........... amazing things happen when a person, a nation, feels seen. When a human feels that another sees and hears the struggle, a spark of hope ignites. It is this spark that can change everything.

I wish I had fully understood this years ago.

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