I keep returning to these two posts seen at Swissmiss. One because I was literally the black sheep of my family. Adopted and Puerto Rican/French. I looked very little like my Dutch parents and siblings.
The other, because it’s the most important practice Tina and I give to each other and to our friends and family. It is, the sign of true and honest friendship. I wear my listening ear like a badge of courage.
“The so-called black sheep of the family are, in fact, hunters born of paths of liberation into the family tree.
The members of a tree who do not conform to the norms or traditions of the family system, those who since childhood have constantly sought to revolutionise beliefs, going against the paths marked by family traditions, those criticised, judged and even rejected, these are usually called to free the tree of repetitive stories that frustrate entire generations.
The black sheep, those who do not adapt, those who cry rebelliously, play a basic role within each family system, they repair, pick up and create new and unfold branches in the family tree.”
– Bert Hellinger “Black Sheep of the Family”
Full text here.
“When people talk, listen completely. Don’t be thinking what you’re going to say. Most people never listen. Nor do they observe. You should be able to go into a room and when you come out, know everything that you saw there and not only that. If that room gave you any feeling you should know exactly what it was that gave you that feeling. Try that for practice.”
– Ernest Hemingway
Le Café Wittypoots 