I See You: a world of meaning in 3 little words

I am excited to talk about my new series called “I See You”. Not only is it a title of a painting collection, but it is a philosophy I subscribe to while being out in the world. Not surprisingly this practice of acknowledging people is important to us as humans, but let me back up to the life lessons that lead me to valuing this philosophy.

When I was growing up if I heard the words “I see you” I would feel some panic, especially if there was emphasis on the word see, “I see you”. If a child was saying those words they might say the word see in a sing song voice, taunting you. It didn’t matter who said those words, my immediate thought would be:

Uh! Oh! Who is in trouble? or Why am I in trouble? Maybe you can relate.

So, not a phrase that had good connotations for me, until I heard the story of the Zulu. Their tradition has been to use a greeting translated in English as “I see you”. When I first heard this it struck me as having a more caring sound than hello or hi. Unlike the childhood experience, it meant to me that the person calling I see you valued you. If you research this topic you will find that the response to this greeting is “I am here.” Both of these phrases, seem to invite more conversation.

In my career, I spent time teaching people good listening techniques and how to convey the message, I hear you to the person they were listening to. That skill is integral to most professions including nursing that I taught. I subscribe that it is also a skill for being a good human. I have spent considerable time trying to incorporate those skills into my own habits consistently. To give myself a little grace I will say that it can be a lifetime goal for some of us. I no longer teach and I have somewhat fewer interactions with people now that I have graduated to an art practice in a home studio. However, I do get out in the world and at this stage I am concentrating on making sure that the people I encounter know that I see and hear them.

It wasn’t just hearing about the Zulu that inspired me to think about why it is important to me that I acknowlede people, expecially those who do not get acknowledged routinely, think grocery clerks, the man who fit my glasses to just the right distance from my eyes, service people of all types and those who have had a hard road in life. I have had a number of experiences that have caused me to consider how I behave toward strangers, but I will tell you just one of them.

I was walking in a neighborhood when I saw a young adult man with well worn clothes and old boots sitting on the door step of a well kept house reading a paperback. It seemed obvious that he was homeless as there was a small pile of possessions next to him. I stopped, said hello and asked what he was reading. We had a good conversation about the book in his hand. As I was leaving he thanked me for talking to him. He said that he could go weeks without anyone looking at him or even giving him a nod. It made me sad to think of anyone being that alone in the world.

It is not my purpose in this blog to preach to anyone about how to interact with people on the street, one must consider safety at all times especially if you are a woman, or how to treat the homeless. That’s not my place. I simply wish to explain the many reasons why the name of my new collection, I See You, has such deep meaning for me.

As you might guess the new series is figurative. The series will expand over time and in fact may incorporate all of my portrait and figurative work eventually. And I don’t rule out the chance that a mischievous animal or two may show up in time. This current collection are of people you would not identify as being overlooked, young dancers. However, I am working on one portrait of a man I stopped on the street and asked if I could take his picture. I don’t know his name or his story. Everyone has a story, some of it can be read in a face or posture. I hope to have it done by the time I release this new collection in late June. More about him in a later post.

No, I haven’t forgotten to tell you the reason it is important to us as humans to acknowledge and converse with strangers or even the people you live with. There has been much in the news lately on this topic, possibly stemming from research released from The Harvard Study of Adult Development that has collected data for eight decades. In Dr. Robert Waldinger’s TED talk The Secret to a Happy Life he calls the practice of talking to varied people Social Fitness. This fitness has been linked to less depression, optomism and longer life for the individual. Taking a wider view, a population that is happier and optomistic is less likely to fall prey to cynical thoughts and the behavior of a victim.

So, get more comfortable striking up casual conversations with strangers. I suspect that my followers already do. At this age my friends and family would tell you that I am quite good at this. I am doing it as a routine practice, but not in the same frame of mind as doing my exercises, trying to eat my vegetables or flossing my teeth, I do it because I like it! And I hope that it will brighten someone’s day.

One word of caution, this practice can irritate the person tagging along with you if they are in a hurry or not of the same mind as you.

Watch your email, I will be sending more news about the debut of the I See You series as the date gets closer. I am excited to show it to you. And if you haven’t gotten here from my home page, check out the new photos. One is of a new painting called Meditation.