What Do I See When I Look At You?

What do I see when I look at you?

Just in case you wanted to know…woman to woman.

I’m watching you.  Just like you watch me.

Are you prettier?  Am I fatter?  Do you see me?  What are you wearing?  You look smarter, taller, stronger.  Are you ‘better’ than me?  Do you belong?

I have watched, forever.  You can say it’s my particular weakness to watch people.  Women are of particular relevance, being one myself.  And I have suffered for it – the comparing, the feeling not good enough.

But the years and my blessed stubborn nature have taught me well.  I’ve learned how to look at you.  And this is what I see…

When you walk, are you strong?  I see how you glide or clomp or hunch.  I see how you announce to the world your arrival or beg its forgiveness for your intrusion on life.

When you talk, are you caring?  I hear the ones that hide behind their voice.  I hear those that wield their words like a sword, lashing out in frustration or pain.  I hear the song in the voices of those that would rather sing than speak even if they can’t carry a tune.  I hear the strong sounds hiding scared girls.  I hear the silence of the quiet ones.  The silence always fails in its attempt to dampen the war cry of the goddess.  I listen for the secrets that rise above the words, telling me this woman is so much more than she seems.

When you work, are you found?  Do you feel your purpose in your hands whether they hold a child, a broom, a needle, a pen, a keyboard, a phone, or a knife?  Do you send your strength through your words that you say to your employee, your co-worker, your student, your patients, or your leader?  Do you guide with your wisdom the paths of those that need you?  I see those that have purpose.  No matter what the purpose is, it inspires those that are lost to be found, too.

When you move your body, does your spirit speak?  I can see it in your walk that you love your hips.  I can see it in your muscles that they crave the weight you push.  I can see it in your spine that it wants to draw circles in the air around you.  When you stretch, I can see the energy beam from your fingers and your toes, bursting from your head and rooting from your feet, filling the world around you.  When you’re bent and you’re twisted and you cower or you glare, I can see your pain.  I can hear your spirit cry.

I see your clothes.  Do they free you?
I see your hair.  Will you let it be blown by the wind?
When I look at your purses, your wallets, your cars, your rings, your tattoos, your homes, your vacations, your accolades, your lashes, your pumps, your flats, your whatever I saw on the latest pin, whatever I heard was the latest trend, whatever I saw was my latest want…can I see you?

Will I see you?

I will see you, with or without your distractions.  I will see the woman.  I will see the girl.  One way or another you will speak my language and I will read the story of you.

And that story is so much more than what I see.

My single wish is that every woman be the woman she is and bless us all with that gift. May we all relentlessly seek our truest selves and always see the best in others.  Then we can begin telling another story.