Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.
In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.
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See Through Another’s Eyes
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Now, I have no choice but to see with your eyes, So I am not alone, so you are not alone. – Yanks Ritsos
Seeing through another’s eye is forgiveness.
Writer Ann Lamott explains, “In fact, not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.” Forgiveness is the essence of seeing through another’s eyes. Real forgiveness: when the offense does not matter. Real forgiveness: when knowing the person you are forgiving does not matter either. Real forgiveness: when not forgiving is like being eaten alive by rat poison.
Seeing through another’s eyes is humility.
Humility is the ability to understand someone else’s faults through the lens of our own. We know we are not perfect, so we see all faults as a reflection of our common humanity. That is difficult in an environment of shame and blame and competition. That is difficult in a world where courage and vulnerability are seen as impossible partners. Humility embraces strength and confidence in ways that allow us to truly see one another.
Seeing through another’s eyes is compassion.
Compassion starts when we can see through another’s eyes. It does not end, even when tested through the fire of pain and circumstance. It is rigorous giving expecting nothing in return. It is rigorous understanding not looking for understanding in return. It is knowing that how we treat others is a true reflection of our interconnectedness: ubuntu – the universal bond of all humanity.
Seeing through another person’s eyes is rooted in the future.
Seeing through another’s eye is about looking forward, ahead, in front. Toward understanding Toward connection. Toward peace. Toward love. The future can be hard when anger growls and sadness looms. The future can be hard when the present feels like cement around our feet. Through another’s eyes the future offers possibility and hope. There is possibility when our experience is not the only experience. We can find hope in understanding one another.
https://kitt.global/may-31-seeing-through-anothers-eyes-mark-nepo-the-book-of-awakening/
About Katie
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From Louisville. Live in Atlanta. Curious by nature. Researcher by education. Writer by practice. Grateful heart by desire.
Buy the Book!
The Stage Is On Fire, a memoir about hope and change, reasons for voyaging, and dreams burning down can be purchased on Amazon.