What a beautiful meditation on love, perception, and understanding - thank you for sharing.
I am mulling over these lines:
"Itās taken me a long time to start eating my shadow. And the thing that made it possible, of course, was being seen and still being loved. Though I donāt like toādonāt let myselfābe seen."
They remind me of this quote from Thich Nhat Hanh: "Understanding is love's other name. If you don't understand, you can't love.ā
I am also reminded of a person to whom I recently confessed feelings. As I got to know this person, I glimpsed a shimmer of their highest self, in a state of flow, unfettered by the grip of their trauma and pain. That is what I fell for, far too quickly and headfirst.
When I told them this, they would not (could not) admit to reciprocating physical attraction but admitted to emotional and intellectual attraction. I believe they have a deep-seated fear of being truly seen; in fact, they don't even really know who they are, having recently begun to investigate childhood traumas that affect them even now.
I guess what I learned from this experience is that I should be more careful when loving, or starting to love, someone who resists clear-eyed perception. Because in protecting themselves, they will not hesitate to shut me out, leaving me to lick my wounds in the cold.
ā I used to look to books for answers, and now Iām looking for something more subtle. Company, maybe, or relief.ā
You took the words right out of my mouth. š©µ
What a beautiful meditation on love, perception, and understanding - thank you for sharing.
I am mulling over these lines:
"Itās taken me a long time to start eating my shadow. And the thing that made it possible, of course, was being seen and still being loved. Though I donāt like toādonāt let myselfābe seen."
They remind me of this quote from Thich Nhat Hanh: "Understanding is love's other name. If you don't understand, you can't love.ā
I am also reminded of a person to whom I recently confessed feelings. As I got to know this person, I glimpsed a shimmer of their highest self, in a state of flow, unfettered by the grip of their trauma and pain. That is what I fell for, far too quickly and headfirst.
When I told them this, they would not (could not) admit to reciprocating physical attraction but admitted to emotional and intellectual attraction. I believe they have a deep-seated fear of being truly seen; in fact, they don't even really know who they are, having recently begun to investigate childhood traumas that affect them even now.
I guess what I learned from this experience is that I should be more careful when loving, or starting to love, someone who resists clear-eyed perception. Because in protecting themselves, they will not hesitate to shut me out, leaving me to lick my wounds in the cold.
"Knowledge inevitably affects enjoyment, even as it deepens it." - Loved this line.
Amazing. As usual. Thank you for this!