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

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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.