What Brings you Here?
If, when you sat down in my office,
I asked you to tell me your story,
you know, what brings you here…
What would you tell me?
Would you tell me the same story
you have been telling yourself
for as long as you can remember?Would you give me a list
of your successes, your failures,
the places you have been
the people you have met?Would you tell me
what you have been through
how good or bad
your parents were?
If I was really good
I would slip in the insightful questionat just the right moment
the one that takes you off script
and then watch what happens
a quickening of the pulse
in the vein in your neck
your gaze turning inward
clinging to an old wound
or to a hoped for future
But I’m not that good
and often my hands
are better listeners
than my ears
see more clearly
than my eyes
are definitely more patient
than my mind
What if I asked instead,
“Where are you going
that made you decide
to stop here…?”