– Being Present: Counseling in Nashville

Last Updated on April 11, 2024 by Chris Roberts

When I Taught Her How to Tie Her Shoes

By: Penny Harter

A revelation, the student in high school

who didn’t know how to tie her shoes.

I took her into the book-room,

knowing what I needed to teach was perhaps

more important than Shakespeare or grammar,

guided her hands through the looping,

the pulling of the ends. After several tries,

she got it, walked out the door

empowered.

How many lessons

are like that-skills never mastered in childhood,

simple tasks ignored, let go for years?

This morning, my head bald from chemotherapy,

my feet farther away than they used to be

as I bend to my own shoes, that student

returns to teach me the meaning of life:

to simply tie the laces and walk out of myself

into this sunny winter day.

The courage to “walk out of ourselves” each day.  To find a way to “have a short memory” as they say.  To be able to find the beauty and heartache in everything…and continue to tie the laces and walk out.   This life is hard, no doubt.  There is suffering beyond measure.  There is the suffering of others that makes it seem unbearable to bear sometimes.

What do you feel when you read this poem?  Which lines or images or story infects you the most?  What questions arise in you?  Where do you get the catch in your throat?  Or does this particular poem not stir anything emotional in you?

These questions, and a thousand others, are the stuff of therapy.  The places where we get stirred- in joy, fear, excitement, sadness, heartache, even anger and rage- those are the places that are crying out to be seen, to be witnessed by another.  I heard a child ask the other day, “Mommy, why is the wind louder at the shore than it is at our home?”  And I thought to myself, “When is the last time I’ve allowed myself to ask such an innocent question.”

If you’ve found yourself stuck in the callousness or grind of life and are wanting a place to renew the old courage you used to have, then counseling can be a great place to struggle and wrestle with the questions within.  A compassionate witness who strives to stay with you, no matter where you doddle or sprint.

If you are looking to begin your therapy journey, Chris Roberts would love the opportunity to speak with you.  Chris has over 15 years of practice as a counselor in Nashville, TN.  You can reach out to him at chris@nashvillecounselor.net, or by phone at (615) 800-9260.