I wonder how many people I've looked at all my life and never seen. John Steinbeck We can look at someone and not see them.  We can look straight at someone and see right through them.  I'm guilty of doing this.  I'm guilty of looking right through someone.  And guess what?  They know it, they can sense it.  And guess what else?  It communicates to that person that I don't think they have value or that they are worth really seeing.  Sometimes it is hard to really look at someone.  Sometimes their pain - internal and/or external - is hard to really see.  So we, okay I at least, look at them but blind my eyes to really seeing them.  If I see them then I have a responsibility to care, be involved.  And that can be really tough.  That's going to require time, energy, patience, sacrifice, and what else?  It's tough.  But to really see someone, to really look at them and all their pain is the better thing to do than...

Perhaps it takes courage to raise children. John Steinbeck Perhaps?!  Not perhaps!  IT DOES!  It takes courage.  It takes a stoutness that most days I'm not sure I have.  And then some days prove that I don't!   Recently my Mom and I have had to have a few conversations about parenting in today's world.  Every generation has its challenges to be sure (those Beatles!  They were rebels, haha!) but these days seem tougher than what has come before.  Perhaps if you've read this post of mine then you know what I'm going to say next.  Technology has done parents no favors.  Oh sure, there are some pros but overall it has hindered parenting in ways nobody ever saw coming.  My parents didn't have to monitor my online activity or my cell phone use - talking or text, they didn't have to teach me to look at people in the eye instead of remaining fixated on a screen.  And those are just a few examples of how tough it is today! ...