"Just Like Me"

Hello, everyone! Time has flown by since my last post.  My days have been filled with health issues that pulled me away, but thankfully I am on the mend and hope this finds you well.
     As I was wading through emails and facebook posts today, I decided to organize and create lists of all the connections I had made so far. I found myself  in essence catergorizing people into typical groups such as 'family, high school and teachers', yet quickly feeling that the lists were not adequate and that instead we are are all each others 'teachers' and members of one Family in more ways then not. People would start out on one list, but I would feel compelled to place them on another as well, hence wondering why make separations at all? Then later in the day, I came across a facebook page called Avatar Compassion Project.
It is an invitation to consciously create more compassion in our world by slowing down and taking the time to notice that we really are in a mutual process of learning and doing the best we can as we go along in life. In an effort to help us see this the site offers packets of cards with 4 questions to help us see that "just like me" the person before us has known loneliness and sadness, and "just like me" is trying to avoid being hurt, in exchange for peace. Our initial tendency is often to judge whether or not  someone is being 'successful' at learning anything by our own standards, but just as I said in my first post, I am all about seeing common ground, and this simple exercise was a powerful reminder that compassion is definitely possible.
     If that approach feels too much of a stretch, the word Avatar reminded me of the recent movie that filled the theatres. I loved it, but was especially thrilled by frequent references to the comment "I see you."  This spoke to me because for several years now I have been blessed by a spiritual teacher Sonia Choquette who encouraged us to respond to others with an "I see you and you're so beautiful" tone. This was not necessarily verbal (though go right ahead!), but was about seeing more deeply into someone's spirit nature and beyond all the drama that creates that illusion of separation.  Seeing someone devote their creative energy and financial resources to a message about inconnection was such a hopeful experience. Thankfully, ticket sales proved that so many agreed with me.
     I would like to challenge you to look at this particular facebook page as a possible starting point. This exercise is similar within other faith traditions as well. Let's just use it as one small way to leave big ripples and live by a different rhythm.  See you back here soon.