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Strong opinions surface during a family email thread.
TODAY’S PROMPT: “RESPECT”
On my 60th birthday, my perceptive, imaginative friend, Liz Palladino, gave me a box that looked just like a book. You open the cover and it’s filled with writing prompts. Best gift ever. It’s inspired me to create a new Medium series called Writings from Liz’s BookBox. Gonna try and hit it every week till I get through the whole thing.
Anything you think you know — look again. You might learn something.
The root of the word “respect” is “spek,” which means to observe. The prefix “re,” of course, means to do it again. Recalibrate. Reassess. Respect. Respect is the act of careful observation, and then more of the same.
Recently, there was an email exchange within my extended family about current events. We all think we know what’s really going on, but we don’t agree, and that makes genuine conversation difficult. I tried to do what my sister (with whom I vehemently disagree) invited us to do. Be still.
I highly recommend this practice.
If you sit long enough in this stillness, you may find that each and every one of us is attached to a way of seeing the world. I see things much more like my nieces do. My brother…
