Adler didn't just look at someone; he looked into them, without judgment, with the sort of empathy they couldn't find anywhere else.~Elizabeth Brundage (From The Vanishing Point)

There is nothing like being truly seen by another. Have you experienced it? Sometimes the beauty of being seen catches me off guard. I remember one day in a counseling appointment, my therapist said something like, "You couldn't 'rock the boat' in your family system, could you? I mean being the youngest by so many years, you had to keep the peace, help maintain the family protocols that were in place long before you came into the picture." At that moment in the quiet space of the therapy room, I felt seen. Comforted that perhaps my tendency toward "keeping the peace" and "people pleasing" had some reasoning and validity regarding my adult behaviors. Then sometimes my husband will say, "Oh, Priscilla, you look beautiful," and I touch my face or hair and say, "Oh, but I'm a wreck right now. I'm still in my pajamas, or I don't have on any make-up." And my husband responds, "Why I like you in the natural, because it's the real you." And I relax, and don't try to hide. Or feel embarrassed. When one is seen for who they really are, it extinguishes shame. Ignites love.

Just today I was writing in my Morning Pages, a practice I engage in each morning--three pages of stream of consciousness writing. I wrote how relieved I feel to be seen by God, to rest inside His grace. And right at that moment, a piano solo began to play on Pandora. I consider the melody my theme song, as I feel it contains the "sound" of who I am. The song's title is "Barcelona" by Jim Brickman.  It was in Barcelona that I had an epiphany of how much I am loved and accepted by God. (The cover of  my book, The LIght By Which We See, is inspired by that encounter). 

Recently, too, I discovered an artist on YouTube who sketches portraits of people on the New York Subway, then gives them the drawing. Each time they are provided this gift, they light up with awe that their likeness has been captured so beautifully by another.  Watch this short clip of the artist, Devon Rodriquez. Being Seen

May you know and experience today the great love of God. He sees the real you.