Finding the Faces of My Community
A community consciousness and brain health essay.
The face conveys evolutionarily significant information. When I look into your face do I see a predator or prey, a friend or enemy, are you trustworthy or not, a part of my community or an “other”, a potential partner or friend? Beyond helping me to survive, will you help me create and love more deeply?
Much of this information gathering comes from my eyes and from what I see in your face. I feel your movements deep in my mirror neurons reflecting back how it feels to smile, laugh, cry or yell. My eyes are very important in how I see you and the perspective I take on people’s emotions, intentions and creative processes.
I wonder sometimes what is reflected in my face as I peer into the faces of those around me or as I walk by without looking. What does it say about me, about my connection to my community if I don’t look into your face?
Springtime bring flowers like the white and yellow narcissus, named perhaps for the Greek word for intoxicated (narcotic) and the mythical Narcissus, who seeing his face, falls in love with his own reflection in a pond. Glassy lake surfaces, internal and outer mirrors, window glass with the sun reflecting off our faces, a shiny piece of metal, someone’s glasses — these are all way we can see our own face or a reflection of what others see.
What do other people see when they look into my face? Sometimes they smile with love and sometimes their brows furrow with concern or compassion. Sometimes their eyes light up in joyful recognition or surprised confusion. Who do you see when you look into my face? Look and see me. Facing the world is a delightful process with shifts and changes like a kaleidoscope of spinning jewels and colors as I turn my attention from one face to another. Face me as I face you. Who are you saving your face for?
Gary Zukav put it this way, “The coming and going of the seasons give us more than the spring times, summers, autumns, and winters of our lives. It reflects the coming and going of the circumstances of our lives like the glassy surface of a pond that shows our faces radiant with joy or contorted with pain.”
What is reflected in the face of this community of humanity, which shines out impacting the creativity and growth in your life?
Originally published at http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php on April 15, 2015.
