Being Seen and being Appreciated
In my women's group that meets monthly we recently completed an exercise that they felt was very worthwhile. It made such an impact on them that I told them I'd write a blog about it.
The exercise: each person was given time to write down all the positive adjectives or phrases that she could think of that applied to her. Then one at a time, the group read their lists.
After each person's reading, the rest of the group gave her additional phrases or adjectives that described aspects that they saw that she had "forgotten" or not acknowledged. These each person wrote down on her list. Frequently, murmurs of agreement were heard after a new adjective. Or others affirmed it by telling a short story about how true that observation was.
I am guessing that at minimum the group came up with twice as many different ones than each woman's original list.
Each participant felt it was an unusually affirming and empowering experience. It meant so much to them that they mentioned it months later. One wrote her list down in a little notebook that she always carries with her. She said this way she'd always have it whenever she was "down" on herself or just wanted to see it again.
Granted, this group of women have known each other for a long time so there was an enormous amount of trust to do this exercise. They also have seen each other in many different circumstances so knew each other well. And they are as a group very thoughtful, observant, insightful and positive women.
Do you think you can find such a similar circle of friends who would be willing to gift each other with this experience of being seen and being appreciated?
As you may imagine, it does wonders for each person's sense of worth.
Please comment on this blog if you'd like to share a similar experience. Please remember to come back to this blog and share your experiment with this exercise.
