Most people think of validation as emotional support. It can be…on a superficial level. Like understandings that float on the surface of the pond.
But pretty gruff people who aren’t emotionally supporting or even using words can, with their presence, be deeply validating to your being. And loving people can have lovely words, yet be absent and invalidating.
The Latin root, validus, means strong, powerful, effective, worthy, sound. Imagine standing in the presence of that. There is nothing superficial about it. Imagine how fast things can shift in that vibe.
It is related to valere, “to be strong,” “to have worth,” “to be well.”
Originally, to validate wasn’t primarily an emotional act. It meant:
to make something valid
to establish its truth or soundness
to give something standing
to recognize that it holds weight
to acknowledge the substance of a thing
There is nothing neutral in there. Strong, sound, and powerful are not immobile, stagnant, or stuck.
In fact, true validation is catalytic.
Do you see? What kind of mountains do you move with so much less effort when you are deeply validated? Imagine what shifts in another when you are present, acknowledging the substance of a thing.
I have people in my life experiencing just such a thing. And when I witness them being deeply validated, I see creativity emerge. Flow happens. Playfulness moves in, even in the work being done.
The opposite can be true as well. Neutrality, ignoring the substance, can be invalidating.
You don’t have to be part of everyone’s experience. Resonance still rules. Yet where you choose to engage, engage.
What do you think holds enough life force to expand your state of being and support your ability to be fully you in the short and the long run? What gives you the sound footing to know all is well and to go forth and play?
Emotional support has its place in everything, for sure. Kind, loving words…Yet, imagine it all wrapped up in true validation, the presence within them.
Who do you become in your relationships? More generous, confident, powerful, loving, relaxed, for example?
Who do you become in the challenges you’re facing? Creative, rooted, relieved, for example?
Who do you become in the company you’re building or moving, or the book you’re writing? Passionate, excited, creative, for example?
Imagine the feeling in your heart, in your expression, in your creativity, in your sense of wholeness and self, in your ability to solve problems, in your pocketbook…how creative do you find yourself when true validation is holding you–both as someone who validates another as well as someone who is validated?
Validation is a state of being, a way of someone entering your experience, closely related to integrity, which has its roots in wholeness, and not everyone has that capacity of presence. But you can grow into it.
When you do, honor it within yourself and in another. Being matched is worth what it catalyzes in each other.
But pretty gruff people who aren’t emotionally supporting or even using words can, with their presence, be deeply validating to your being. And loving people can have lovely words, yet be absent and invalidating.
The Latin root, validus, means strong, powerful, effective, worthy, sound. Imagine standing in the presence of that. There is nothing superficial about it. Imagine how fast things can shift in that vibe.
It is related to valere, “to be strong,” “to have worth,” “to be well.”
Originally, to validate wasn’t primarily an emotional act. It meant:
to make something valid
to establish its truth or soundness
to give something standing
to recognize that it holds weight
to acknowledge the substance of a thing
There is nothing neutral in there. Strong, sound, and powerful are not immobile, stagnant, or stuck.
In fact, true validation is catalytic.
Do you see? What kind of mountains do you move with so much less effort when you are deeply validated? Imagine what shifts in another when you are present, acknowledging the substance of a thing.
I have people in my life experiencing just such a thing. And when I witness them being deeply validated, I see creativity emerge. Flow happens. Playfulness moves in, even in the work being done.
The opposite can be true as well. Neutrality, ignoring the substance, can be invalidating.
You don’t have to be part of everyone’s experience. Resonance still rules. Yet where you choose to engage, engage.
What do you think holds enough life force to expand your state of being and support your ability to be fully you in the short and the long run? What gives you the sound footing to know all is well and to go forth and play?
Emotional support has its place in everything, for sure. Kind, loving words…Yet, imagine it all wrapped up in true validation, the presence within them.
Who do you become in your relationships? More generous, confident, powerful, loving, relaxed, for example?
Who do you become in the challenges you’re facing? Creative, rooted, relieved, for example?
Who do you become in the company you’re building or moving, or the book you’re writing? Passionate, excited, creative, for example?
Imagine the feeling in your heart, in your expression, in your creativity, in your sense of wholeness and self, in your ability to solve problems, in your pocketbook…how creative do you find yourself when true validation is holding you–both as someone who validates another as well as someone who is validated?
Validation is a state of being, a way of someone entering your experience, closely related to integrity, which has its roots in wholeness, and not everyone has that capacity of presence. But you can grow into it.
When you do, honor it within yourself and in another. Being matched is worth what it catalyzes in each other.
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