Saturday, October 25, 2008

little wet tears

Have you ever noticed how it seems like it is much harder it is to know how the people you live with are doing than the people you might interact with elsewhere?

This might be just an illusion but... I don't think so. Not entirely. You see, when you see someone that you don't live with you think to ask, "how are you?" and you ask about things in their lives because you know that you don't know. When you interact with someone that you live with, sometimes, you ask "how are you?" but, for some reason it is harder because it almost seems silly to ask or answer that question honestly.

We shouldn't assume that the people we live with can know without being told what is happening in our lives. Sometimes, some people (I've been guilty of this before) get upset when the people around them cannot just KNOW what it is that they're thinking or feeling. This might be one of the most important lessons in living well with others --don't assume that you know what is happening to the people around you and don't assume that they know what is happening to (or in) you.

2 comments:

Becky said...

I've never thought about this, but I have to agree with you. This is a wonderful observation. I'll try to put this into practice!

Miriam said...

My current housemate - Sarah - is really good at asking "How are you?" even when we're hanging out every day. It's a good question.

live the questions now... R.M. Rilke