(I started this post typing too fast and the first couple of letters of the title didn't appear. It said, "eating company". Ha.)
In Anne Lamott's book Bird By Bird (which I'm slowly reading), she talks of "that great line of Geneen Roth's: that awareness is learning to keep yourself company." She goes on to say that we should then "learn to be more compassionate company."
Learning to talk to yourself in new ways is an odd hard thing. Actually, it's the learning to listen in different ways that's the tough one. Just to listen, take things in, without the old altering filters.
Moon came home in a mood. (He is fifteen after all.) After trying listening, comforting, talking, matter-of-facting, cajoling, etc... I pulled out the piece I'm working on.
I danced it in front of his face. He refused to leave Moon alone until a smile appeared. Even a moody fifteen year old couldn't control laughing at the silly low growly-gruff voice coming out of his mother saying, "Hey! Look at me! I got a leaf crown. You're liking it. Yeah, I know. Everybody wants to be me. The guy in the crown. And there's berries, too. Purple berries."
Moon and I are cut from very similar cloth (never tell a teenager he's just like you.) A few light hearted minutes did us both good.
