The Desire to be Known

I've been pondering this week the human desire to be known. Why is that such a huge need for us? Perhaps it's one of the major tentacles from the original sin; we are completely known and understood by our creator but have severed that relationship and thus the "God shaped hole." We look for it in other relationships and they often succeed, fail, or even just struggle but how "known" we feel. Wives don't tell their husbands what they want but are severely disappointed when they get it wrong because they just want him to know. Your best friend is your best friend because she can read your feelings into a simple text. When you want a relationship to grow, you open up a little more; take the risk, let them know you. When someone surprises you with an insightful comment you feel unexpectedly close to them because they seem to know you, even that little bit, and you are grateful that they made the effort to notice and remember that. In Anne of Green Gables the search is for a "kindred spirit." In You've Got Mail it's, "...152 insights into my SOUL." All of this was triggered by the moments of unexpected understanding that I've experienced here in the hospital this week. This is particularly unexpected by me as I've never felt comfortable in any aspect of the medical world. One moment came from my doctor when she told me to accept help with the twins and I told her I didn't know why that was hard for me. "Control," she replied. Yesterday a nurse stopped and looked me in the eye,"are you taking care of yourself? Are you eating? Are you drinking enough? Will you ask if you need something?" How did she figure me out so quickly? Maybe it's not that they're so insightful, but only that I'm not that atypical. That's probably mostly likely, that I am just like most moms in this situation. But still, in this sterile environment, it was nice to have a moment of rest. Rest in a moment of another human being knowing and caring. That said, we get to go home today! Sometime anyway. The doctor gave us the green light, we're just waiting on one more lab and then the discharge rigamarole. Owen is doing a lot better. Still coughing, but not in danger. I'm so thankful that we only improved and didn't ever really have any particularly scary moments or the need to be transferred. Despite the nurse that checks the wrong baby and wakes us up in the middle of the night, we get good care here.