Search This Blog

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Reflection


We always see our worst selves. Our most vulnerable selves. We need someone to get close enough to tell us we're wrong. Someone we trust.
~ David Levithan
- - - - -

Reflection is good, but it is imitation, right?  Each see-er sees different things. When we reflect on moments, we see them through our own lens. We need people to encourage us to see things from a variety of perspectives. Is one way of seeing something more "right" or more "true"?  I don't know.  I really don't know that we can ever tell someone what is true for them.  We can't know that.

I think it is even more challenging when we are reflecting not on moments, but on ourselves. We see the external and the internal. The internal is like - I don't know what. Something hidden and filled with the unexpected. Some good things. Some troubling things. Like the inside of a chicken pot pie.

My friend Mimi helped me realize this. We were going to be presenting together and she asked me for a brief bio. After I sent it to her, she responded, sending me back what I had written and then commenting:

"Michelle Boettcher is a tenure-track assistant professor who previously served in administrative roles in housing and most recently as assistant dead of students and director of judicial affairs." 

I think you're making a statement here. :)

In that way, Mimi helped me see myself for how I was seeing myself - whether I wanted to admit it or not. And that person is, unfortunately, not good at typing and editing her work sometimes.

No comments:

Post a Comment