"And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye." Antoine de Saint-Exupery
What a lovely week this is - a week of seeing with your heart, which allows you to see what is invisible to the eye.As you probably noticed in the exercise in class, it is only when you move past seeing with just the eyes and mind that you can really see another human being at all, and can really begin to be in relationship, whether it is with another or it is with your Self.
Make sure to practice this live-with both internally and externally. Once you begin to open your heart to yourself, and your Self, you will know your deepest capacity for love and compassion.
On a very practical note, use your precise observation to see what shifts at home and at work when you see with your heart. What changes in the dynamic of your relationships? How is the 'other', whom you are seeing with your heart, changed? How does is your creativity, and the creativity that comes from your relationship, changed?
This is an amazing live-with! I was disappointed with a co-worker for a job badly done.. but done nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteUsually, I would be mean to her, but I tried to see with my heart, and I realised, she's probably trying her best, that she's probably new and struggling with catching up.. I felt so much more relaxed and in control, its great!
That's beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAs for me, I feel expansive and much more alive as I see with my heart.
I have to say that reading Ray’s chapter “Relate from Your Hart” has created an almost enlightening shift in my thinking. I would always consider inspiring moments of trust, respect and connection that are created at work to be a hidden benefit of the working life, but not “the highest goal.” If I consider creating those moments of trust and connection to be “the highest goal,” then everything else that I do and have ever done receives a completely new meaning and color.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the “Seeing with Your Hart” exercise, I decided to approach it with specific instruction to my mind that would go something like this sentence: “Connect with yourself and all people that you meet in any given day respectfully, listen, pay attention and seek to understand, while remaining expressive and playful to the extend that resonates well with your nature and the external situation.” I have to say that I had a lot of fun experimenting with this instruction. It would be difficult to list all specific insight and situations at this place. Maybe just one thought—if I give more space to my inquiring mind that seeks to understand VOJ become less relevant and less powerful.
For me, this week's live-with, "seeing with your heart" has also very enlightening.
ReplyDeleteI learned that when we see others with our eyes, sometimes our VOJ is in charge, and we don't even know it.
Perhaps we don't communicate that VOJ directly using words. However, I learnt that we do communicate the VOJ sub-consciously via our tone, or our face expressions.
Things that we don't notice. Things that others see/hear easily.
When we see others with our eyes only, others also see us with their eyes. But they don't necessarily tell us what they see.
When we see others with our heart, When our VOJ is silenced by the live-with, the tension goes away.
I found that others are able to speak up much more. I feel my voice is calmer. I feel I am learning.
I'm usually pretty critical of others because I have a high expectation of myself and I assume the same for others. So, if I think someone is not giving their best at work, I tend to look down on them.
ReplyDeleteThe administrative assistant for my department always complains a lot and misses a lot of her duties. I always disliked her for that and didn't think too highly of her. However, I decided to practice the "See with your heart" live-with in dealing with her because I knew that I hadn't given her a fair chance. Not only did I become a bit more patient with her, after having lunch with her, I found out that she's going through a divorce right now and going through some rough part of her life. I felt so bad that I hadn't thought about how people might have issues outside of work that is preventing them to perform well. Now, I'm more lenient towards her without letting her "get away" with it. I'm glad that I was able to get to know her and that I've decided to give her a chance.
Oh, and another thing: I love the quote you guys posted! "Little Prince" is such a good book (although it seems like a "child's book") and thought-provoking. I think I'm going to pull out my copy and read it again! :)
ReplyDeleteHi CK,
ReplyDeleteyes "little prince" does seem like a 'kids book' but it's great, insightful is a very simplistic ay! so is "Mr. god this is anna" I think thats a great book about how many barriers we can break if we just stop acknowledging them :)
Cheers to your journey!
I am extremely committed, hard working and always try my best. When I started as a boutique manager, I applied those rules to my team, and subsequently only the strong and motivated salespersons stayed. Our hard work lead to great numbers and sells.
ReplyDeleteRecently, I hired a new team member. After 2 weeks of training, he still lacked motivation and poor selling skills. Every day, his attitude and work is teaching me to see with my heart and have compassion. It didn’t work very well at first, but as of today he feels that I understand him and he is trying hard to improve.