I hereby challenge myself, and you, my virtual (and real-life) community, to answer the question: "how are you?" with your most authentic response. Try it just once this week. Then maybe twice next week. And pay attention to what it feels like to REALLY answer that question honestly, speaking your truth in that moment. Pay attention to any release, and try to simply notice any experience you have during this experiment.
I'll try it out here, right now:
"Hey Alexandra, how are you?"
"Hi Interwebs. I'm... feeling kind of tired & sluggish and in and out of grumpiness, like maybe my sleep last night wasn't restful enough. And I'm having some intense cravings for chocolate, even though I just ate some chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips and cacao nibs. I think my hormones are raging. My neck is a little stiff and sore, maybe from a weird sleep position, maybe from my workout yesterday. It's hard to know. How about you? How are ya?"
Whoa. My written answer is authentic! I tried to edit it as little as possible while writing. I noticed myself rereading it and wanting to add more words and more feelings and more speculations. Then stopped, because that would be inauthentic! And I'm feeling a little vulnerable sharing those things with anyone who reads this!
OKAY, now it's your turn! Try it out in the comments here, answering the question: "How are you?" Or try it out in person sometime this week!
I'm interested to hear how it went for you!
<3
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“Let's tell the truth to people. When people ask, 'How are you?' have the nerve sometimes to answer truthfully. You must know, however, that people will start avoiding you because, they, too, have knees that pain them and heads that hurt and they don't want to know about yours. But think of it this way: If people avoid you, you will have more time to meditate and do fine research on a cure for whatever truly afflicts you.”
- Maya Angelou