To be seen
I’ve been getting acquainted with this little rose. She grows in the hard dirt near the back corner of the fence. I’ve sat close by checking daily on her well being. Growing in excitement as she slowly unfolds, stretching open her pedals in display. I compose photographs… waiting for the best light to roll over her and draw down her sides during different times of the day. Moving, changing, growing she develops. I wait, adjust my perspective. My hope is to capture how she is to be seen.
This process has been an interesting experience and has led me to think about what it means to simply see vs to truly be seen. How often do we sit with someone, and allow wonderment of what could be? To truly be seen for the potential not yet realized? What if we were to deeply be known and loved with space for the unseen? Too often we are quick to place limitations and judgements based only on current conditions. If not careful, we become impatient and settle into the familiarity of current limitations.
Roses hold treasured memories for me. With each smell I’m brought to my Grandma's rose garden. Looking up at all her roses I delicately touch them and pull them down into my small face inhaling deeply. Hearing grandma gently force a voice of patience saying “Oh honey, be very careful not to bend their stems”. She allowed my discovery and taught many lessons I still hold dear to my heart. The smells, variations of color, the delicate petals, soft smooth velvet. Grandma's skin soft, thin and smooth like rose petals. Grandma was a rose to me and I’m amazed by both of their beauty.
Thinking about being seen brought me back to a few years ago studying about one's potential. I don’t recall the exact context but a question was asked “What is the worth of a soul?” - The reply was simple and profound. “The worth of a soul is its capacity to become as God.”
Some of us are in the storm of our lives. Some have just emerged from dark shadows. Be wise in how we calculate our relationships with ourselves and each other. Consider the sum of growth as our potential to discover things yet to be seen.
