Imagine if you will, being cocooned in a sea of warmth, spending your days simply being. Your functions and responsibilities as you know them now, nonexistent.

You feel things and experience things for certain; the warmth of the sun, the sound of voices or music (though you wouldn’t have names for them yet), an occasional shift in light and a range of feelings, physical and emotional, in their most primal form.

I’d like to believe you spent this part of your life floating in a constant state of love.

Then one-day things change, you find yourself experiencing a shift in atmosphere, environment, and energy. You find yourself squeezed, pulled almost, or maybe compelled. However it happens, it happens.

You are, in a matter of time, no longer floating in a sea of warmth but rather flailing in an ocean of air much colder than you’ve ever experienced.

In a matter of moments, everything changes and all that has been certain begins to fade. 

You have metamorphosed.

Because I get to write this version of the story I imagine you greeted with tenderness, with love, profound welcoming, celebration, and reassurance. I imagine the thoughtfulness that went into your arrival - the dim lights, the soft sounds, the warm skin, and gentle words.

You have been born.

You awaken slowly to this thing we call living earthside, some say it takes a full seven years to arrive fully from where you came. For now, your eyes soft-focused and sensitive, are able to see clearly only about 8-12 inches away.

You are held, loved and regularly gazed upon. Your eyes drink in the loving gaze of your caregiver and it is in these moments you begin to form the idea that you exist.

It is in these moments of being seen that you realize you are you.  

This to me is the root of all things *be seen*, this deep intrinsic pure desire that lives in all of us to know who we are and to know that we are.

This isn’t the “hey, look at me, validate me, adore me” kind of being seen, although there's absolutely nothing wrong with the pursuit of adoration.  

This is the powerful wisdom that knows that seeing is the gateway to loving and that when we can see and love ourselves then we can offer the same to others, we can offer the same to the world. 

I’m talking about the inner wisdom that groks that we see ourselves most profoundly through the reflection of the world around us. 

We are made to be relational beings. The only way we ever see our own face is through the eyes of another, in a mirror, or through a photograph. 

Let that sink in, we actually never see our own face directly. 

This is how pure, simple and beautiful this concept is. 

This is the way *being seen* begins in our lives, as we grow it evolves to be more and more nuanced, complex and subtle. But always reinforcing that we are a self, that we are here, we are known, and we matter.

When we're children it's those who say to us "Wow, you really love blue don't you?" and, "Look at how strong you are on that bike." that help us to decide who we are or aren't. As our self becomes more formed even those who "miss" in their reflections help us to become resolute in our sense of self.

As we move through our lives it continues to be those who *see us* that we feel the most positively connected to. 

Point is, this whole *being seen* business, this desire so many of us have to document our lives, share our hearts work, show up and take up space - it’s not frivolous, it’s not superficial and it only expands our capacity to see and hold space for others. 

So take the photos, do your work, take up your space, let yourself *be seen*, open your eyes to the beauty that you are.   

The time is now. 

The desire is worthy.

The world needs you. 

Much love,

Danielle