Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Seeing


The older I get, the harder it is to sleep well through the night. One thing I've found that helps, is to wear a sleep mask. Mine came from WinnCo and set me back $1.67.  I love it and everything about it. I love the texture against my skin. I love that the light from the clock does not shine in my eyes. I love that it mutes the world and separates me from it. I love that when I put it on, it signals my body that I am done, it's time to rest, I'm off duty.

Last night, I woke up and realized it was not on my face. I couldn't find it anywhere. My hand reached around and it was in none of its usual hiding places. I finally turned on the light, and wouldn't you know it? It was in my other hand. I was holding it the whole time.

It was a ruby slipper moment. The power, the magic, what I was looking for, was with me the whole time.

I am loving my word-of-the-year, all five days of it: Observe. My friend, Val, asked me, "What is the difference between witnessing and observing?" I've been mulling that over ever since. Finally, I did what any normal person would do - I Googled it. Found this article. I've now changed my word to "Witness." Observe is to strengthen the ego. No, thank you, mine is plenty strong. "The scientist observes, the mystic witnesses."

It's not easy see what's right in front of us, what we're "holding." It's hard enough to observe it, a greater challenge to witness it. But worth the effort.



4 comments:

kario said...

And sometimes when we can see what we're holding on to, it's hard to let it go because we're afraid of what might happen. I'm the queen of seeing that heavy object in my hands, lamenting it, and still not being willing to put it down.

You're making me think, Care. Thanks.

fullsoulahead.com said...

Love.

Anonymous said...

I don't believe I have ever commented before but since I feel this post is God talking to me through you I felt I must respond :-)
Being an "observer without evaluation" is something I have heard before and attempted to do --Wayne Dyer's words perhaps? but I LOVE the concept of being a witness. So glad you shared.
Julie A

Elizabeth said...

I like that correction -- observe to witness. I've thought a lot about the word "witness," particularly as it pertains to caregiving. I remember once when Sophie had a really big seizure in front of one of my friends who had never seen one before. I remember her sitting with me and with Sophie, how she did nothing, but she witnessed it with me and that was everything.

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