There are persons so radiant,
so genial, so kind,
so pleasure-bearing,
that you instinctively feel,
in their presence,
that they do you good,
that their coming into a room
is like bringing a lamp there.
Mr. Beecher's words made me wonder how people perceive me, or think of me. I wonder, do I make people feel this way? Do they feel like I do them good? Do I light up a room simply by walking into it, or by leaving it? I have always wanted to make others feel good just by being around me. A memory came to me, just as I was typing out these thoughts - I was a student at Rick's College, and as shy as a person could possibly be. Terribly, painfully shy. I was taking an interpersonal communications class that was required for the program I was in. A project was assigned by the professor to write something nice about each person in the class on a 3x5 card, make it anonymous, and at the end of the week we would give out the cards and be able to read what others thought about us. This was a very difficult task for me. I felt like I knew so little of my classmates, and since I was sooo shy and rarely opened my mouth how could they possibly know anything of me? Besides, I was invisible. Seriously, I felt I was invisible. I knew the cards I would get would most likely have practically nothing written on them, something like "you're nice". When I went through my cards that day, yes there were a few that seemed contrived. But I was surprised to see that despite my shyness some people really knew something about me. They saw things in me that were deep inside, things I thought no one could see. There was one that told me I had a beautiful smile and that I light up a room. What a compliment! Sadly, I mostly didn't believe it. There was, and I guess still is a little part of me that hopes it's true. I hope that one day someone might read this quote by Mr. Beecher and think of me...
