It can also be an eye opener! Reflecting similarities of your own personality that you would rather not have as a part of your biological marker. Watching can demonstrate how another lives. What's important to them. People watching to me is just fascinating.
Maybe your thinking this is on the Creepy? Perhaps; that is if I were an actual stalker. See, I don't set out to watch. It just happens. At a restaurant, doctors office, grocery shopping, church. Something catches my eye (or my ear) and I can't stop myself from being intrigued on a more personal level.
I watch interactions. Couples. Kids. Fellow employees. Waitresses. What catches my eye? Sometimes, it's how someone handles a stressful situation. Or, how they speak to others but primarily, I notice HOW they make others feel. On occasion, I have witnessed something shocking only to have it resonate a feeling of dread, because I privately acknowledge I could be that person given the right instance.
Why do I love to watch people? Because I learn from them. I identify with them on some level. Has this happened to you? Do you find yourself drawn to a situation or person for reasons unknown? Read on...
A few yester-years, while waiting on the hubs, I heard a young mom with littles trailing behind her. I watch as she attempts to keep them around her. I see her roll her eyes to the ongoing demands that come with motherhood in public. (Haven't we all been there?) I spy each of her followers out of the corner of my eye. I wonder how does she handle the wild one? What is she saying to the youngest one that demands one on one NOW? I see the mischievous one who disappears within the racks of cloths in various store fronts and anticipate how she'll handle her moment of frantic searching when she notices he has slipped from view. Will she yell? Panic? No... She was prepared. She speaks a coined phrase and just like that, the eldest little responds then emerges from his hiding spot. And on their merry way they go.
I muse over these things for a moment, recalling my own "Marco Polo" games in Wal-Mart when my littles would divide and try to conquer. I see my younger self in her. I smile at her. She smiles back, removes the fallen hair from her face as she gathers each little and moves on. I identified with her. Motherhood was our unspoken but yet spoken connection.
Commonality connects the universe. We all come into this world the same way. Other than traditions, or social status, or heritage, we are all the same, but yet different.
What I find most intriguing in my people watch is a calm collective coolness in the midst of confrontation. One who can smile while saying 'kiss my ass' in an even tone & without becoming red-faced. One who doesn't unravel, much like I, in the midst of 'a moment'. I admire strength and confidence. I admire honesty and humility. I admire REAL.
Identifying doesn't mean being the same. Its simply recognition. I have learned about myself by watching others. I see qualities that inspire me and I want those to be a part of who I am. I want others to see 'that' in me. I will ask myself "Can I mimic them and still be genuine? My response is usually yes. Usually it's just a change in attitude. A new perspective in place that will allow me to 'be like them' in certain situations but maintain the uniqueness of me. Sometimes, we don't realize who we are and we look to others as a mirror. Wanting to see our self the same as we noticed or felt in a stranger.
Are they role models? Isn't everyone to some degree? Rather knowing or unknowingly, someone is always watching. And I can honestly say I feel like I am a better person by trying to incorporate some others' attitude toward life, toward mishaps, toward failures into my own outward qualities. They are life lessons learned thru observation instead of trial and error and heartache.
We expect children to mimic us. And we witness teenagers trying to mold themselves into what they perceive their peers to be like. Why would the action of wanting to be better stop with adolescence? I don't think it does. For me, I learn from my interaction with pretty much everyone. My mimicking another is of the utmost respect and adoration. It's my acknowledgement that there is always room for improvement in who I am. It doesn't mean one isn't confident or is insecure but instead it is the all-powerful knowing that you never stop learning about yourself.
Personal growth is a life long endeavor.
Do you admire the actions of someone? Who inspires you to be a better person? Is there another person who you look up to? What have you learned from strangers that made you a better person?
And for the record, I AM a stalker. I am an avid blog stalker.
Til Next Time ~
Domesticated Rebellion
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