You've heard the standard American greeting: "How are you?" many times a day. Lately I have avoided making this my form of greeting unless I really want to know how a person is.
I heard a greeting at Shanti Yoga Studio the other day which I find intriguing.
It is a South African greeting:
I see you.
I am here.
I wonder how often I really am here when other people are around? I wonder how often I really do see other people?
There is a waning custom of greeting other motorcyclists while riding which we jokingly call the wave. One rider waves to another oncoming rider while on the open road. It's a greeting. I see you. I am here.
What I notice about myself is that I wave but I do not look for a return wave. I find myself afraid that the other person won't wave back, or s/he will think me foolish. So I turn my gaze away after I make my initial contact. I notice this occurs in other interactions too. Putting on the cover of contacting other people with a hello but not looking them in the eye, or even really seeing them.
I am curious about what kind of gifts and lessons might be shared if I made more effort to contact others during the greeting process.
Are we just passing each other on the way to somewhere else?
Is it worth the of safety from rejection to turn inward when I greet other people?
What are we missing by asking how someone is while moving away at 60 miles per hour?
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I wonder how often I really am here when other people are around? I wonder how often I really do see other people?
There is a waning custom of greeting other motorcyclists while riding which we jokingly call the wave. One rider waves to another oncoming rider while on the open road. It's a greeting. I see you. I am here.
What I notice about myself is that I wave but I do not look for a return wave. I find myself afraid that the other person won't wave back, or s/he will think me foolish. So I turn my gaze away after I make my initial contact. I notice this occurs in other interactions too. Putting on the cover of contacting other people with a hello but not looking them in the eye, or even really seeing them.
I am curious about what kind of gifts and lessons might be shared if I made more effort to contact others during the greeting process.
Are we just passing each other on the way to somewhere else?
Is it worth the of safety from rejection to turn inward when I greet other people?
What are we missing by asking how someone is while moving away at 60 miles per hour?
RSS
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