Under the Arch

That may seem melodramatic to some, but I found something today while sorting through some of the boxes still littering my living room (still working on that news years thing) that had a significant impact on my life.

I had to take a psychology class in high school and one lesson in that class changed the way I looked at myself. The teacher passed out large note cards with yarn strung through them and we were instructed to loop the card around our necks, with the card hanging down our backs. Then, everyone had to go around the room and write something positive on each person's card anonymously. After everyone had made it around the room, we took the cards off and read them.
For the first time, I was getting a real idea about what people saw when they looked at me. Like Julia Roberts said in Pretty Woman, it really is easier to believe the bad stuff people say about you than the good stuff. But, though I know that some of the things written on my card were my fellow students just being nice, there were enough truly sincere comments on it to startle me.

I had no idea at the time that others saw me this way, frankly, at the time, I wasn't sure others saw me at all. But they did, and it really did change things for me.

I've kept this card for thirteen years and I'll continue to keep it safe because every time I look at it, I remember that shy, insecure girl who realized that she was seen by her peers for the very first time and as something more than she saw in herself.