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The Importance Of Seeing Others
This is a huge topic and (I think) an important one in modern life. It feels like there’s a lot of hand-wringing about people not “seeing” each other in the last five years, and/or talking past each other (or not talking at all). This is largely because of the partisan bullshit we wade around in every day, which got sent into hyper-drive by COVID, Trump, weird liberal assertions about gender and police, and “the schools.” It can feel like no one is having a conversation. It can feel like empathy and connection are on the decline. I think most people have felt this at least once or twice, if not 200 times.
Well, into this wades a good David Brooks column — it’s really kind of him promoting his own book, but whatever — about being human and seeing others.
Up top, you have the essential summary of the entire article:
People want to connect. Above almost any other need, human beings long to have another person look into their faces with love and acceptance. The issue is that we lack practical knowledge about how to give one another the attention we crave. Some days it seems like we have intentionally built a society that gives people little guidance on how to perform the most important activities of life.
Aside from some sociopaths, I don’t think anyone would disagree with that one.
Then, later in the article, you have this truly beautiful human moment:
Other times, a good accompanist does nothing more than practice the art of presence, just being there. I had a student named Gillian Sawyer whose father died of pancreatic cancer. She was later…
