SELECTED WRITING

On Recognition

What changes when something in us is finally seen?

Fern frond and its shadow on pale limestone

Recognition is more than naming

There are moments when something familiar suddenly becomes visible. We have felt it before, perhaps many times, but had not quite found the words. Recognition can arrive quietly: a pattern seen, a sensation noticed, a relationship understood in a new light.

Being met

There is a difference between being analyzed and being recognized. In recognition, experience is not reduced to a symptom or hurried toward a solution. It is given room to be present. Sometimes the presence of another person makes that possible; sometimes, over time, we learn to offer it to ourselves.

What follows

I’m interested in what becomes available after recognition. Not necessarily immediate change, but a little more choice. A different relationship to the parts of us that have been working so hard to protect us. A way of being with ourselves that is both more curious and more kind.