visual – From the desk of Adam Thomas

Be seen, see others

Stop being heady.

If you are reading this, take a moment to say hello to the next person you interact with. When I say good morning, I don’t mean the program “hello” that comes with our trained “social graces,” I mean an actual hello.

Listen to the other person. Take a breath. Respond.

You’ll often find surprised look on the other side.

Every interaction we have with someone can make their day better simply by letting someone know they are “seen.”

So, put down the cell phone, and say hello. The other person might need “to be seen.”

Don’t succumb to “bliss.”

I like looking at ostriches. They are an odd bird. Land bound. Big smiles. A little goofy. They remind me of me.

Unfortunately, most of the people know them due to an awful saying. The world knows the bird as a coward. People think ostriches put their head in the sand. They don’t! They are brave animals!

As much as I don’t like the narrative, the metaphor that springs from it is still good advice.

While our first instinct is to crawl under the bed and hope that the safe space we choose comes with “evil repellant.”

We must resist that instinct. Fight or flight is hijacking the system.

That reliance on comfort is holding you back, because our ability to deal with uncomfortability not only helps us grow as people but gives us stories that help the people following us.

Furthermore, the best case scenario of the “head in the sand” strategy is nothing moves, including you.

And as a result, if you resist movement, you welcome regression.

Regression is death.