Today I'm turning this over: when I look at myself, do I see a person with a bunch of challenges, issues, problems — or do I see potential? And the same question, pointed outward: when I look at someone else, am I seeing the list of what's wrong, or am I seeing what they could be?
The two framings don't sit equal. One narrows the person. The other opens them.
And here's the part I want to name out loud — seeing people as problems feels like a shadow quality. Something I default to without choosing. A lens that arrives faster than awareness does, and dresses itself up as being realistic, being discerning, being careful.
So the inkling underneath the inkling is the question: can I develop the ability to see everyone as potential? Myself included. Not as a sentiment, not as a posture. As a practice. Something I'd have to catch the shadow doing first, before the other lens has any room to show up.
I don't have the answer today. Just the noticing.