Learning to see with soft eyes in hard-frozen times

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Gabrielle Dean

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Dec 21, 2025, 8:08:39 PM (2 days ago) Dec 21

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This is part of a piece by Parker J Palmer set in the northern hemisphere winter but relevant to our inner landscape d relationships. He is an American "author, educator and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change” (Wikipedia)..

Learning to see with soft eyes in hard-frozen times..

Parker L. Palmer, from his Living the Questions

It takes soft eyes to look out on a winter landscape and see that, deep underground, there’s an energy reaching for life in the face of death. Beneath all the ice and snow, nature is already preparing for the rebirth called spring.

It takes soft eyes to look at another person and see behind their guarded self-presentation to the shy soul that’s yearning to be seen and heard. Hard eyes will keep you from knowing “what wars are going on/down there where the spirit meets the bone” (Miller Williams).

It takes soft eyes to look at yourself and see beyond your fear, trauma, shame, or sense of inadequacy to the solid ground that, if you give yourself to it, will accept and uphold you exactly as you are.

It takes soft eyes to look at a world full of people trying to survive, and see beyond the “sound and fury” to the clumsy but endearing ways we keep reaching for each other in hopes of finding a community of mutual support.