Andrea

“When you listen, you are still.
When you listen, you separate from your ego.
When you listen, you learn a thing or two.

You strengthen the muscle of empathy,
And lengthen the muscle of patience.

You allow others to feel seen and heard.
And when others are seen and heard, they soften.
And when they soften, they relinquish their armor.
When the armor is gone, you see each other’s humanity.

And when your humanity is exposed, your heart expands
And you see yourself in the other’s eyes.”
― Hania Khuri-Trapper, Rest & Return: Weekly Reminders to Pause, Reflect, and Just Be

“We mustn’t withdraw from human interaction because it can be difficult. It keeps us grounded and helps us to grow through real and challenging situations. We do not need to decide which community to belong to. We just live life to the best of our ability and follow our interests and we will find ourselves within a community of people perfect for our growth.”
― Donna Goddard, Love's Longing

“Current neuroscience research shows that the pain and feelings of disconnection are often as real as physical pain. And just as healing physical pain requires describing it, talking about it, and sometimes getting professional help, we need to do the same thing with emotional pain.”
― Brené Brown, Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience

“You must open your eyes in order to see.”
― Anthony T. Hincks