Sooj

Then Makers would RULE. 🙂

It’s the 21st century.

We live in the future.

We live in a future that only a few wildly creative souls could ever have imagined.

We have so many modern conveniences that there are modern conveniences for our modern conveniences.  There is, in fact, an app for that.  At least in the first world.

It occurred to me over the weekend, walking side by side with two vivacious, gorgeous female friends of mine, that I could think of at least one thing there’s not yet an app for.

What would you give if you had the chance to see yourself through the eyes of the people who love you deeply?  What would it be like to see yourself the way they see you?  Would you fear it, or would you jump at the chance?  How would it potentially change your life?  In what ways would it potentially allow you to think differently (and more positively) about yourself?  Could it save you?  Would you try it?

Of course, any system can be hacked and have havoc wreaked upon it.  This view-swap would be no exception.  It could be tampered with and used for bullying, for competitive reasons, for putting others down.

Here’s the thing.

We all have the choice to be kind to each other, or to be bitchy.  We all have the choice to be compassionate, or to be completely awful.  We have the choice to be indifferent, or to be passionate and vocal.

In that moment walking with my friends, we were all trading compliments to offset our own personal body image issues.  It wasn’t something we had decided to do.  It came naturally.  “Girl, I look at your hips and I think, ‘I want to be that!'”  It was this exchange that made me voice my wish for that new type of 21st century innovation.  Because the compliments don’t always stick with us.  Why don’t they?  Why do we talk ourselves out of believing in what inherently makes us worthy to be liked and appreciated?

I don’t have the answers.  But I do wish, often, that I could see myself the way that my loved ones see me.  I would use the proof of their vision to win back my confidence, during days when I am self-critical past the point of being constructive.  I do not have that chance, not in the terms of a potential invention/app/whatever.  What I do have is their words, and my trust in what they tell me, and my hard-won capacity to accept compliments.

Living with compassion isn’t always easy, but it’s remarkable how many things can be made easier by it.  It’s hard to remember to be compassionate with yourself, as well as with the people you love.  It’s hard to remember to compliment yourself, as well as the people you love.  It’s hard to accept compliments.  But we have the ability to practice.

So let’s practice.  And even if that invention does come along, let’s keep practicing.  Let’s be good to ourselves and each other, app or no app.

for Rubiee and Ember <3 <3 <3