I've got my eye on you, and there isn't a doubt that you've got your eye on me, too.

I'm watching you, and you're watching me, and, as expected, we're both making inaccurate assumptions, based on the small (or perhaps cumulative) snippets we see, about one another and each other's lives.


That's how the comparison game works, right?


You're getting womanhood,


wife-ing,


mothering,


and the balance of it all


"right,"


whereas I am getting it wrong.


Poor me.


Or, do I have that backward and am I the one seemingly beastin'


my life,


marriage,


and daily self-care,


while you ride past me on the #strugglebus and rubberneck?


Poor you.


NO!


And,


NO!


We know that what we see when we look at each other has way to more to do with each of us as individuals than it does with the other person.


And, with that knowledge, we recognize and understand that our perceptions do not equal another's reality.


As women, especially as mothers, everyone has their eye on us, and this constant watchdog presence, well, it can make a girl (or a 33-year-old mother of three) feel crazy, inadequate, and self-conscious.


So, that's why I need you to hear and understand this, and it's something I very well need to remember myself:


That when there is another woman in our line of sight, and they've got their eye on us, believe (and heck, maybe even manifest) that they are doing anything but judging you.


I know that, for me, when I look in the direction of another woman --typically one riding the wave that is motherhood, just like me -- I am looking at her to


1) give a nod of support and empathy
2) learn from her
3) make a new friend
4) recognize positive qualities which I long to possess
5) not feel alone in my struggles
6) ensure she does not feel alone in hers
7) acquire whatever message the universe is intending to send me by placing me and this other being together


So, yeah, I might have my eye on you, but lady, all I'm wanting is to get a peek at your journey with the hope that doing so, will aid me with the bewildering but exciting adventure that is my pilgrimage of self-discovery and improvement.


Still, if you so desire to keep your eye on me, well then I beg of you to please make it a KIND eye.


And, if it's anything but, then take your biscuit on a trek to find yourself some love-tinted googles, put those suckers on and never take them off.


Authenticity and compassion look good on you, me and everyone, so there is no reason to rock anything but.


And, if and when our eyes meet again, I hope that camaraderie is all I see and feel, as I promise to you it is precisely what you'll get from me.