Sometimes I catch my girls rolling their eyes at me. I hate it. All my hard learned skills fly out the window, and I become the girl on the school yard wondering what the other girls might be saying about me.
I was at a workshop this weekend and I caught myself, barely into the first hour, rolling my own darn eyes behind the teacher’s back. Now, no one forced me to be there. I took it willingly, took time out of my weekend, time away from my family, and my own funds to attend, and here I was, doing the eye roll. I had to take notice.
The eye roll, I realized, is an attempt to roll away information that might otherwise scare you to integrate. Yes, there is something to be said for being an adult, and being then able to identify what feels superfluous. I am a firm believer, however, that you can learn something from everyone out there, so to roll my eyes only keeps their information away from me. I will never be able to review information as helpful or non-helpful if I immediately react with a gesture of dismissal.
I realize how adept we have all become at the eye roll. It shows up everywhere. We speak before someone is finished with their thought. We listening with our own agenda. We multi-task during phone conversations, if phone conversations even exist any more. The same disrespect I experience when my girls eye-rolling begins, I perpetuate on myself and others as soon as I tune anyone out due to fear or judgment.
I got a lot out of the weekend workshop. It was not easy to stay present. It was not always fun or interesting or filled with the answers I thought I was looking for. It was filled with many, many others instead. I am grateful to have stilled my eyes long enough to receive them.
Let’s Practice this week and next, and then maybe take off January 1st week.
WEDNESDAY 12/14 9:15 am
FRIDAY 12/16 8:15 am
In admiration for all of you and your practices,
Michelle
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