Sunday, December 31, 2017

Seeing

Spoiler alert!!! If you haven't seen Avatar, or Moana, be warned- I'm going to spoil the end of both of these.

That said, this post is about seeing.

In Avatar, US/Earth military forces team up with a mining corporation to pull precious ore from an alien planet. Plot twist: the planet is inhabited by 10' tall blue aborigines. It feels something like a cross between FernGully and Dances with Wolves... with giant blue natives. The Na'vi have an idiom, "I see you," that has little to do with one's eyesight. "Seeing" someone, to them, means truly understanding who they are on the inside- the good, bad, and ugly... and acknowledging, accepting, and maybe even loving. Neytiri saw her Jake as he truly was- human, paraplegic, poisoned by her air-, and still loved him.


In Moana, a young girl (not a princess!), daughter to the chief, decides to take matters into her own hands and sail beyond the reef- an act that is forbidden- to save her people. She has to find Maui, a demi-god, help him find his magic fishhook, then sail to the island of TaFiti to return the goddess (same name as the island- she IS the island) her heart back. The trouble is, when Maui originally took TaFiti's heart, a lava monster, TeKa came into being... and they have to defeat TeKa in order to get TaFiti's heart back where it belongs. Plot twist: As Maui is trying to defeat TeKa, Moana realizes that Teka IS TaFiti! The lava monster and the island goddess are one and the same! Moana sings,
I have crossed the horizon to find you.
I know your name.
They have stolen the heart from inside you,
But this does not define you.
This is not who you are
You know who you are... who you truly are.
Moana recognized TaFiti, even when she was in pain, damaged and broken. And so was able to heal a goddess!


Sometimes, being seen, being fully known and understood, recognized, acknowledged... and still loved. There's something to that.

I challenge you to practice Seeing those around you. Recognize and accept all the parts of them. The pristine and the scars, the sweet and the bitter, the ugly and the beautiful, the simple and the complex. Accept it. And work to be grateful for all those parts of those around you.