So, let's be honest, we all have that little bit of judginess in us. That immediate impression of the tattoos or the designer handbags, the weird hairstyle or the skinny jeans, the manicured nails or the outdated clothes.
The problem with judging a book by its cover is you lose.
When you dismiss a person because of your impression that they have nothing to offer you are 100% wrong, all the time - because everyone has something to offer, only sometimes it is parceled in a package you are unaccustomed to.
For me, it is interesting to see how people jump to conclusions and box people into a category, mainly by where they met them, how they look or what their main interests are.
If they met them in some sort of workshop - then they are studious.
If they met them in a healing space - they are broken.
If they met you in a work space - they are that profession.
If they met you at a school dropping of your child - you are a parent.
People are multidimensional. They are treasure troves of untapped potential - and sometimes all they need is an opportunity to shine.
Also dismissing people because you think you know them or what they are about, means you lose. Whether that dismissal comes from your first impression, a shared first impression or the impression of them someone else has loaded on your mind. The dismissal has the same effect.
You lose.
You lose the opportunity to step through your fears and actually connect with people who are wildly different from you, but underneath just as human.
So, when I go out into the world, one of the things I try to do is see through the masks and find the connection.
I hope you will do the same.