Yoda's sig has a quotation of which the following is part: "Before you judge my life or my character ... [w]alk in my shoes." Many of us have heard that or something similar to it before in our lives. And I'd guess that many of us have tried to utilize that standard when dealing with other people. And sometimes we feel we have indeed understood (=walked in the shoes of?) someone else, and sometimes we give up trying because we feel we can't do it.

Question: Is there any way of KNOWING, objectively, that one's efforts to "walk in another's shoes" are correct? Are in conformity with the feelings and the facts as seen and experienced by the other person we are trying to understand? How does one test that? Is talking to the person involved sufficient? How do you know that they know what you perceive in them?

Question: How do T's do this, or try to do this, with their clients? Is this a skill they are taught in T-school? Are all T's equally adept in doing this? Can you flunk out of T-school because this task is beyond you? Can you still have a successful career as a practicing T despite being unable to do this?

Question: Is it ever really possible to "walk in the shoes of another?" Really? Aren't our efforts, however successful they may be, always falling short of the extent of knowledge implied (at least to me) by that phrase? To what extent, if any, do we all really live our lives in solitude?

These are just questions generated by reading Yoda's sig. That's all. Take care.