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Inspired

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

What you see in me is a reflection of what you put in me

Last Friday, I sat in traffic, looking forward to the familiar guitar chords of StoryCorps. For you NPR listeners, you know what I'm talking about. For the rest of you, how do you not know the wonderful goodness that is StoryCorps? I heard this story in traffic, but it was preceded the week earlier with this story. Both were moving, not unlike their typical stories. Yes, they pull at the heartstrings, but that's what is inspiring. If you don't have a chance to click on the link I'll break it down for you. Essentially, a teacher became the legal guardian of one of his former students. Not only was it unique because they didn't really know one another, but also because the boy the teacher was taking in was about to be a parent. Not only that, but he was going to be a single father at age 16. The new guardian wasn't married and never had children. So this was quite a change. I loved that he said this:
"I'm a young black man and you're a white man," Williams said. "And I'm like, 'I don't know anything about white people.' "
This is so true when you start fresh and new, right? The anxiety, the fear, any ol' thing that is unknown is contributing to these new situations. Yes, frightening.

I'm plagued with those same anxieties any time that I try something new. So there I sat on NCX, a blubbering mess, happy that I hadn't yet applied my eyeliner when my sister calls. Because she knows me well enough, she can tell that I've been crying. When she casually asks what is going on, I reply back that I'd been listening to NPR. She utters out a familiar smile. It is not unlikely that at the same time when she calls me every weekday morning that on Fridays, I'm probably tearful.

But that quote above, marinate on it. Think about what you see in people and how you've helped to contribute to that. What you see in me is a reflection of what you put in me. 

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