text: Kindred Spirits 101: Just a Moment in the Woods
  Posted by Kindred Spirit at Thursday, October 08, 2009
  Sean October 10, 2009 at 3:20 PM
  "We all think about what we are supposed to be from another person's point of view, and it affects how we behave."
  "And if you're really, super lucky, you meet some people along the way who actually see really significant pieces of you, bunches of them, and like you anyhow."
  Thanks, Kelly. It's a very timely topic for me, the above quotes in particular. I find that trying to be what I think people want, because I want them to like me, but if I don't allow people to know me, warts and all, then I'm actually making it more difficult for anyone to get close to me. And yet, it has become such a habit, such an addiction, it seems a herculean task to change my behavior.
  Anyway, what I'm trying to get at is this - thanks for blogging about this. It definitely helps me to examine my own life a little more closely, and a little less judgmentally.
  Kindred Spirits 101 October 12, 2009 at 11:00 PM
  First of all, no one's every quoted me to me before. It made me giggle.
  Secondly, thank you for commenting at all. Comments on blog are like a present. It makes me feel like someone is listening, and makes me excited to say more. Thank you for that inspiration.
  And thirdly, and most importantly, you, my wonderful friend, should try to see yourself as the people who love you see you. I want to give you a pair of my Sean-colored glasses to show you the spiritual, loving, fun-filled, adventurous, magnetic spirit that we see in you. If you could see that, you'd never doubt yourself again.
  I think it's just a battle. It's a conscious choice to allow yourself to be seen. You get to choose, and you get to meter it out to other people in the quantities you choose. Cool, isn't it, to just take the plunge and open up? I have learned to do that with students in one particular way. The fact that it's not ALL of me doesn't make it inauthentic. It's just a different shade of grey.