Sometimes I feel like they just don’t understand me. And then that thought amplifies where I start thinking that nobody understands me or has the capability to do so.

Sometimes I want to be understood. Other times I just want to be heard. But most often I just want more than a nod and a smile and the phrase “Yeah, I totally understand.” Do you? Do you really understand?

And then I get to more thinking… maybe nobody has to understand. Maybe our experiences are so diverse and distinct from one another that true and pure understanding is impossible to achieve.

And then, of course, I start to understand. Our experiences and challenges may be “different” but they have a basis in emotion(s). All experiences bounce off of fear, happiness, anger, sadness, or all of them combined or some at the same time. So what does that mean? Well… it means that even though I can’t fully relate to your world and what happens in it, I have the ability to somehow understand your feelings and emotions and connect from there.

Now, the real challenge is having someone that wants to listen, reflect, and understand. Do you want to understand others? Not simply putting yourself in their shoes or heels or whatever but really delving right into their world and making sense of another’s life. Sounds fascinating. Sounds interesting. And sounds like a lot of damn hard work. But is it worth it? Is it worth it to understand others, yourself, or me?

I believe that we don’t always need to have a total and complete understanding of ourselves because we can be lost sometimes. Nevertheless, understanding yourself can do wonders. Building from that, if you can understand you and be introspective others can start to understand you as well.

If you don’t know me personally, you might be asking yourself: why does this girl write about this stuff? Answer to that: Because my mind wanders extensively and here’s a snapshot of what I mean: First I’ll be thinking of spring then remember in May is my birthday, then all of a sudden I connect that with birthday balloons and remember how my youngest sister got balloons for her birthday and how happy she was, and then I take it further and think about her smile and how much I love her and then I end the thought with how I was the first one to feed her when she born and how amazing it was. Yeah, my mind goes all over the place and the thoughts I express are in the moment, just like that. I hope you understand me in that sense.

Understand me. Figure me out. Understand others. And most importantly understand yourself.

Peace & Love

Dana Barakat