This is a topic I’ve been thinking about a lot over the past few years. As I’ve gotten older, I value more and more true, genuine connections with people. So what does it mean to genuinely connect with someone? To me, it means being with them in the present moment. This means setting down all the distractions in your mind (and setting down your phone….) and just BEING with them.
“I believe three of the most important words anyone can say are not I love you, but I hear you.” – Oprah
When I lived up in the Bay Area, I attended a few meetings with a group that had a strong focus on spirituality. One of the exercises we would often do would be to pair up with someone and sit facing them and just hold eye contact with each other for a few short minutes. No talking. Just that simple exercise was so grounding because it’s not often you just sit and connect with someone and truly see them and acknowledging them just as they are. And also feel truly SEEN by them too. I remember I did this with one older woman in the group, and I honestly felt so much just from her energy (warm, kind, a little sad…) that she was transmitting through to me. It was so simple yet so powerful.
Being present seems so simple yet putting it into action is super hard. I struggle everyday to remember to be grounded and fully present when I’m with someone. We are all bogged down by our daily stress, preoccupied with the worries on our mind and and seeing people only for the roles they play in our lives. I think it’s such a valuable and meaningful life skill to have if we are able to drop that mental baggage when we are interacting with someone and just be there with them in that moment, seeing past all these labels and definitions associated with them and recognizing the sameness within instead. I hope that I will be able to become better at this with everyone I encounter.
I’m often reminded too of this blog post I saw a long time ago. It’s about a trick to stop tantrums in toddlers. The trick is to spend 20 minutes with them just playing and being 100% present with them! Even little kids just want to be seen! It truly is a calming, grounding and fulfilling experience when you have a genuine connections with people and feel SEEN by them. Isn’t that what life’s all about anyway?
What do you guys think? Is this all too new-age for you or do you feel the same? I haven’t encountered too many who I can talk about this type of thing with so let me know in the comments if you feel the same! I’d love to hear.
(Photos from my Instagram)