.....How Others See Us

[Carolyn Marie]

My mind works in strange ways. I'll be thinking about something, and an old memory, or a movie quote, or a phrase from a poem will just pop into it, and it will just fit what I had been thinking.

Such is what happened to me this evening. I was thinking about all of the transfolk here, including myself, who have doubted our own ability to pass, who have doubted we could ever look male enough or female enough, and how we are often the last to see the changes in ourselves.

Just then, a stanza from a Robert Burns poem dropped in from the sky, and all I could do was smile at how perfect it illustrated my thoughts.

I haven't read the whole poem in many years, but lots of people know this fragment:

O wad some Power the giftie gie us

To see oursels as ithers see us!

Translated version:

O would some Power the gift to give us

To see ourselves as others see us!

Perfect, yes? In two sentences, old Mr. Burns revealed the truth of human nature. We never see ourselves in true light, but if we could see ourselves through others eyes, we just might see it. That power would make our journeys, our self image, our confidence, all the better.

Please keep that in mind the next time you, or someone you know, says they can't be who they want to be. Chances are, someone else already sees that person in front of them.

BTW, if you want to read the whole poem (called, "To A Louse"), here is a link:

http://www.worldburnsclub.com/poems/translations/552.htm

HUGS

Carolyn Marie

[Guest Shari]

This is so true. Those little affirmations that we get should give us a pretty good clue.

Shari

[Guest GinaInside]

(OMG!!! I just read that poem! I had to google "head louse"...ACK!!! but, that was a good poem. Poor lady.)

I have often wondered how people see me, but often have presumed it to be in a negative light. Since I was a child, it was like I was constantly being read, and it was always bad...But I often wondered: "What do they see?"

Thank you for putting that up, it was very thought provoking!

Hugz,

Gina Renee

[Guest miss kindheart]

Thanks Caroline

Nice poetry

<<< hug >>

vanna