Confidences, 1869, by Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema. PD-US.

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

There are a fair number of people in this world — and perhaps particularly in busy, over-teched, commerce-centered cultures — who feel unseen, unheard, invisible, unvalued, powerless. Or sometimes wrongly heard, or seen in an unhelpful and sometimes even dangerous way.

So shadow attempts to be seen and heard emerge — acting out, shouting others down, being provocative, for the more extroverted; turning inward and eating away at one’s self (combined with perhaps more passive-aggressive attempts at being seen, heard, valued).

Demeter Mourning for Persephone, 1906, by Evelyn de Morgan.

Using a mythic lens, one possibility we have is to see the ‘wound’ as one source or clue to one of the gifts we might offer outward — gifts that are innate to our Divine nature.

As the Dagara wise woman Sobonfu Somé has noted,

“The wound and the gift are two sides of a single coin.  If you only look at one side and focus on your wound, you get stuck in it.  But if you turn the coin over to look at the pearl that is lying there, you’ll find your gift.”

In astro-mythology, we would look at Chiron, ‘the wounded healer’ (and wise teacher), as one of the clues we find in our personal “living mythology.” A whole, liberated Mercury (Iris, Hermes) and Uranus/Prometheus would be among other good clues in this particular theme-thread.

Circe the Seer, 1911-1914, sketch by John William Waterhouse. Public domain image courtesy of Wikimedia.

So if we feel invisible, one beautiful and healing gift might be to (1) recognize (see) ourselves, and (2) offer the gift of truly seeing and being more fully present with others.

If we feel unheard, we might intend and practice into really listening to others — an enormous gift in a world full of noise yet devoid of actual listening.

And so on … the possibilities are abundant, depending on the mythology that’s living us (or that we have begun living into).

Beautiful practices — and for most of us, it’s intentional, ongoing practice, to be sure — and yet one powerful way to shift from what can easily become a bit too much of a self-absorbed and toxic ‘poor me’ focus to a more healthy sense of agency and intentional healing influence and presence.

A Clear Well With a Little Field, 1883, Marie Spartali Stillman.

Are there times where you’ve noticed this in your own life — where you felt the gift of truly being seen or listened to, or had the gift of offering that truly present ‘seeing’ and ‘hearing’ to someone else?

Guidance and Clue-and-Gift Sleuthing …

To more fully explore your own “living mythology” and what gifts might want to be expressed through you, have a look at the current Featured Offerings.

Current Featured Offerings

You’ll find plenty of related inspiration freely offered here at Sophia’s Children, too.

Big Love and Heartfelt Seeing & Listening!

Jamie