Unbiased Observer

Jonny has a class that mixes Ancient History with Art and it takes place at the Huntington Beach Library. This has become a favorite place of mine. The architecture is transcendent! I can’t think how else to express it. Water fountains everywhere, openness, reading decks, books, huge windows, indoor planters, a spiral ramp connecting the levels, sort of heavenly in my perception. Richard Neutra is the man!

I meet the greatest people there, too. One day a well-groomed, white haired, elderly gentleman came and sat at a table next to the table my girls and I were at. I could feel him watching us and imagined that he was enjoying memories of the little children of his past. He kept watching and I’d give him a smile here and there. 

After several minutes of observing us, he told me that he thinks June will be an early talker. I told him that I think he’s right since she’s always babbling long paragraphs to me as if I can understand. I don’t remember how it was woven into our conversation, but at some point he said, “Well, I don’t know if anyone has ever told you, but you are very warm and expressive.” That statement went deep, fast, filled me with, oh I don’t know what . . . Joy? Color and light? Pride? Sparkle and radiance? Gratification? Self-worth, perhaps. Anyway, I hoped that we could continue to talk. The girls distracted me almost constantly, so conversation was challenging. But I did get to share with him some pieces of my philosophy of mothering, with a special focus on my babies. This is one of my favorite things to do and he was interested, kind and a good listener. Such a pleasant encounter.

I believe I’ll forever hold dear those words, ” . . . You are very warm and expressive.” I can’t think of a compliment I could appreciate more and that it came from an unbiased observer, well it makes me believe it! 

It is my wish and prayer for everyone who reads this (as well as everyone who doesn’t) that God will send an unbiased observer into your routine to point out some piece of your beauty, your true self, to you. And as you accept and absorb that information, realize it as a glimpse of the whole, perfect, radiant being that God created you to be, that you already are. Let it fill you with the perception of God’s thorough love for you so that you are no longer emotionally starved, but well-fed, fattened even! So that you can share the same gift with others, as an unbiased observer of their radiance.

And I should mention that my unbiased observer was right about June! She has quite a vocabulary now, at 18 months, and it is growing everyday.