Imagine a tree growing around a fence. You notice that the tree accommodates the fence and the tree grows around the fence. You watch as it blooms and grows and flourishes every year. We know that the fence is causing a rupture in the tree, but because the tree continues to bloom, we don’t really notice anything from the outside, however, we know that the tree is impacted. It has a rupture..

Our children never stop wanting us to show up. They keep giving us chances hoping that one day, we will reach out and respond in a way that makes sense to them. While there is an entire industry teaching you the “right ways to parent” with literature and education and entire degree programs centered around this, most moments of connection happen when there is a sense of intuitive connection. 

I learned everyone’s lines, I brought extra clothes, I made sure I knew everyone’s position and where all the props were supposed to be. And, the crazy part is that I believed that this was normal. Didn’t everyone do that? Wasn’t nervousness a state of being for everyone else also?

I was sitting in the waiting room at my doctor’s office. The fluorescent lights seemed brighter, the laughter from behind the front desk appeared louder. Was everyone staring at me?