I discovered I was calling “objectivity” what was actually habit.

— M.

I thought I was observing an error. I was defending a position.

— A.

I thought I was describing a fact. I was already judging.

— G.

I realized the word “always” was my way of not seeing.

— L.

I thought I was neutral. I was merely invisibly aligned.

— student

The conflict changed when I suspended the first interpretation.

— R.

I realized my certainty came from haste.

— D.

I saw that the label reassured me more than reality.

— T.

I realized I was calling “realism” my fear of hoping.

— G.

I realized I wasn’t listening: I was preparing my answer.

— university professor

I realized I was calling “frankness” what was lack of attention.

— P.

I realized that silence was not absence, but resistance.

— researcher

I understood that truly looking requires more time than I was willing to give.

— V.

I understood that the discomfort I felt was not about the other, but about the image I had built of them.

— researcher

I discovered that what irritated me was something I did not accept in myself.

— S.

I thought I was looking at a person. I was looking at a role.

— professor

I understood that the other was not who I had decided they were.

— C.

I realized I was not seeing: I was recognizing.

— F.

I discovered that the image I was defending was my own.

— E.

I thought I was protecting a principle. I was protecting myself.

— anonymous

It was not the other who changed. It was the way I saw them.

— M.