perspective

sometimes you just have to get outside of yourself to really see your life. we're too close. myopic. the little things blurr together and we can't see the difference- we can miss the growth. the day to day change seems so small or non-existent and it takes another pair of eyes to see. my moment to moment- as you know- is a challenge. it is full of repetition- it's full of lessons learned and re-learned. it's one step up and two steps back.
so yesterday i got some perspective. yesterday i got to see zoe through someone else's eyes- from someone who hadn't seen her in a year. and it was Gods gift to me.

i heard that she is so different from last summer. that she has insight and is self-aware. that she knew when to stop and when to wait and when to tell people that she has a non-verbal learning disorder. that she is doing so well.

i think the best part was that this perspective came from someone who doesn't know her well- and doesn't know what had been going on or what this year has been like. he was blinded to the intervention. just two points in time. and this happened when zoe was at the guster concert with her dad- meeting lily and her family and friends and there was so much potential for disaster- for stickiness.
but instead it was fun. it was her living her life and enjoying it. her not overwhelmed, not obsessive, not in her own world. it was zoe engaged and delightful. zoe making other people feel good. and even if it we have a terrible week - i will hold on to the perspective of that alaskan visitor- who can see my daughter in a way that i can't - who could see the forest through the trees.