[2023-04-18] The gift of my company
Sunday's post about the conflict between who we are and who others want us to be struck a chord with a number of Jenesis readers.
One woman wrote to me: "This really resonates. Three colleagues on separate occasions brought this up in the past week alone!" She recounted the story of one colleague who was told they were too bubbly and talkative at work. So they became silent and then were asked why they were quiet.
She provided a link to a story that expresses this same idea: A reading of 'Breathe', the children's book by Becky Hemsley and Siski Kalla. In this illustrated poem, Hemsley tells of the girl who can't win for trying. For example, "They branded her loud, then were shocked by her silence." So the girl heads off to the forest to talk to the trees and to find what is best for herself:
She told them she felt she was never enough,
She was either too little or far far too much,
Too loud or too quiet, too fierce or too weak,
Too wise or too foolish, too bold or too meek,
Then she found a small clearing surrounded by firs
And she stopped…and she heard what the trees said to her,
And she sat there for hours not wanting to leave,
For the forest said nothing, it just let her breathe
The poem captured the peace that comes from being utterly alone, perhaps in nature or a safe spot, where we can be who we are.
Perhaps the girl in the story will grow up to realize that she is neither too loud nor too quiet, neither too fierce nor too weak, neither too bold nor too meek. Perhaps she will come to believe that she is a wonderful human being, with intelligent things to say, compassion to share, and contributions to make. Perhaps she will say to herself, when others are unkind, "You do not deserve the gift of my company." And then she will slip away to the forest, to dance on her own, or she will spend time with others who love her just the way she is.
