It takes an effort to get out of one’s head, one’s ways of thinking, assumptions about how all things should be, etc. Growth comes for all of us from the point when we cannot go anywhere else but out of ourselves. Fulfillment in life is truly about others, not just oneself. All of us need others to keep ourselves from going off the deep ends of our own minds, to see clearly, and to win. Win not in the way of competition or dominance, but fullness, happiness and joy as a social sentient human being craving to contribute outside of himself.
How many times do we encounter self-destruction, as if we are insulated and make the most destructive choices that negatively affect many people? In the experience of being our Self, there is a time in which we can enter into a space with one another, with conscious effort and will. If you desire to achieve intimacy and full self-expression, the way starts with listening on a deeper level with a mind towards making the effort. To make the effort to cultivate relationship, you can follow these approaches:
- approach seeing people by welcoming their needs and wants.
- intend to connect and embrace differences and conflict with openness, trust, and curiosity.
- transforming judgments into compassion, internally and with words that unify people.
- beholding the other person in their humanity and as an extension of your own humanity.
- expressing our vulnerability with an undefended heart, which is extremely powerful in making transformational shifts in ourselves and our relationships.
It’s Late Tonight
The mayhem roll tide of the classroom
The stumbled foot crisis in the realization
You’re in love.
The roll tide of longing
And the mayhem dictating,
Escalating,
Our expressions, hidden as
We write on the chalkboard
In our memory
To each other.
While distance pangs the stomach,
Yearning stops and starts the blood,
The distraction in the classroom
Is only in our heads.
Going home soon,
Though trying not to expire
In the night and choosing the hour
To believe we will call one another
Again?
Probably, but with feeling not easily said
Startled by the static of concrete electricity
And missing each other
Absolutely.
And holding out another night
Because of the dread
And for the impossible thought
Of her lying in bed.
It’s late tonight
I love you, she already said.
Empathy is Poetry 