Even a gentle hand extended with the best intentions can still be intimidating.
Sometimes I wonder what it is like to be one of the little babies in our hospital's nursery. First, the cribs look like cages. There must be something innately frightening about being held behind bars.
There are all sorts of sounds and noises, making rest an impossibility.
And then, there are the countless large hands reaching down to you, often times inducing pain or discomfort. Of course, these hands belong to people who are just trying to help and heal. But I'm sure that fact doesn't make it any less scary. That hand will always be an unknown to the child.
I wanted to try to catch a glimpse of what this situation might look like to the infant. I did learn that I'm not particularly good at "blind" composition. And, my left arm fell asleep from hanging it over the edge of the crib for so long trying to make a half-way effective image.
Anyway, from now on, I will try to
walk a little lighter,
speak a little softer,
and reach a little slower.