Thanks Michelle! You are right and I appreciate the way you think about this through the lens of empathy. That’s a good direction. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Lindy! Great insight. Thanks so much for chiming in. I like how you said: “when i find myself putting someone on a pedestal now i sit with it and wonder what i am needing them to be, or what i am afraid of in my self.” That’s a good direction to explore that I hadn’t thought of!

if you want to think further about this topic O’Donnell has some thoughts on this that are changing my life. i will not do justice to her ideas- but she touches on how we are actually harming people when we idealize them because it makes them an object rather than a human. and further that there is a reason that we need them to be something, as it is related to our self… and the narrative we are telling our self. which is what you are saying here. when i find myself putting someone on a pedestal now i sit with it and wonder what i am needing them to be, or what i am afraid of in my self. so much blossoms from these thoughts. local example/phenomena: seattle seahawks winning the superbowl

love this post, thanks.