Gorgeousness Revealed

As I move through different circles of interacting with others, an observer’s first impression of me may hinge on what I look like.  However, my body is not me. It is the house in which I live. If you say that I am so many inches tall, or that I weigh such and such number of pounds, I will reply, “You are not describing me. You are talking about my address.” [Plotinus]

(Photo by Nancy Bauer, OSB)

When we share stories with one another we begin to notice who we each are at a deeper level and may actually discover certain layers of inner beauty.  In the transformative and life-expressing exchange of storytelling, the listening presence of an attentive “other” helps me see more fully who they are and who I am.  It helps me discover again the truth of this African proverb “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu.” (A person is a person because of other people.)

Once we risk taking off a layer of our skin by telling honest stories to one another, who knows, we might find that more of us can walk around in our uncovered gorgeousness.

Mary Rachel Kuebelbeck, OSB