I met a beautiful soul yesterday. I went to work with my computer to a local cafe so that I could have a naughty treat; It was lemon drizzle this time :-) and also be among people, sometimes when you work from home all day this is in itself a treat. And the magic of connection sometimes happens; a smile, a kind good morning, someone offering you the newspaper, a short conversation with the staff, a peace dove sneaking in with the bill lots of possibilities for love and kindness.
Well, magic did happen. I heard a man who was speaking with difficulty and very loud. I noticed he could not do so clearly and he had some kind of impairment. As it often happens people looked at him-or avoid doing so-and then-as if embarrassed or afraid-looked down. In these cases I try to do the opposite. I imagined a person in these circumstances would want to feel included and not excluded.
So I decided to deliberately look at him and smile. It was an instant! He looked at me, smiled and immediately said 'hello'. With a combination of spoken and body language he asked if he could approach me. I agreed. He introduced me to his friend and explained that they were both deaf and one of them taught sign language online. He even told me about his wife and how he loved teaching. I apologized for not knowing myself sign language and hoped I'd learnt. We still managed to have a beautiful 'conversation' which made us all very happy. I'm sure we'll meet again. The magic of being and being with others.
Well, magic did happen. I heard a man who was speaking with difficulty and very loud. I noticed he could not do so clearly and he had some kind of impairment. As it often happens people looked at him-or avoid doing so-and then-as if embarrassed or afraid-looked down. In these cases I try to do the opposite. I imagined a person in these circumstances would want to feel included and not excluded.So I decided to deliberately look at him and smile. It was an instant! He looked at me, smiled and immediately said 'hello'. With a combination of spoken and body language he asked if he could approach me. I agreed. He introduced me to his friend and explained that they were both deaf and one of them taught sign language online. He even told me about his wife and how he loved teaching. I apologized for not knowing myself sign language and hoped I'd learnt. We still managed to have a beautiful 'conversation' which made us all very happy. I'm sure we'll meet again. The magic of being and being with others.
1093 Reads
- Posted by DANCE
- May 20, 2017
- Comments (8)
Readers Comments
Balou wrote: What a great connection! Unfortunately I don't speak sign language either and have no hearing impaired people in my direct surrounding, but I firmly believe it should be taught early on in school mandatory ...
healingtree wrote: Delightful. I love this sort of happenstance happening that matters and is both simple and profound. Like you and Balou I wish I could Sign and looked for lessons once but the class was 3 hrs away. Still could happen somehow. But Balou is right, school's need to teach it. What a great use of school time that would be. Thank you for your willingness to take a risk and connect with this stranger.
mindyjourney wrote: thank you for going out of your way to connect! What a lovely post about really "hearing" someone :))).
Mish wrote: How beautiful an open-hearted connect you initiated, Dance. Well done!ðŸ‘ðŸ‘ðŸ‘
splain wrote: This is beautiful.
kjoyw wrote: Agree, this is such a beautiful story! What wonderful connections your acceptance created!
leoladyc728 wrote: it was a great connection. we never know who we will meet at any given time.
cabbage wrote: Beautiful interaction! Thank you for going out of your way to include him.
