Reciprocity in Relationships

When my cousin and I visit, I want to know how her life has gone since I saw her last: what has excited her, what has been frustrating, what milestones have happened, how has she grown--in her own eyes?  I ask questions and want to hear her answers, whether or not I am personally interested in each topic--in fact, usually, I am not.  But because these things are important to my cousin, they are important to me, because she is important to me.  My Dad used to call it 'developing a synthetic interest' in another's interests.  This seems to me to be one of the most important ways we show that we are genuinely interested in another person, whether or not we personally get anything out of their interests or not.

Recently I have come up against the same reaction in almost all of my relationships with loved ones, be they sibling or cousin or friend.  If I dare to broach the subject of what interests me, it's like ZZZZZZIP!  Not one sound comes out of their mouth, certainly no words of interest, synthetic or otherwise. 

I know why, to some extent.  The things I am interested in are considered by many to be baloney, woo-woo, silly, impossible, delusionary.  I understand why they feel this way, because it took me a few years to shift my way of thinking--American, CONCRETE, everything has to be touchable, provable, or at the very least, scientific.  Well, the things I study are getting into mainstream science: I know this, but most do not.  Reiki and other lightbody work is being studied at most major hospitals around the world (because they've noticed that their patients get better much more quickly if they get it).   Can my relations even hear this last fact?  No.  Does not compute.  They silently allow me to finish my (by now) brief mention of what I am studying, and then politely change the subject.  Now, I know I am important to them, so why are they so disrespectful, so patronizing?  "Let Sarah just finish, she's always been a little out there...." is what it feels like.  I have very little interest in my loved ones' interests: race-car driving, economics, politics, Russian culture, culinary arts, computers, the modern Christian Church, metal work, skateboarding, on and on and on.....but I AM interested in each of these people, so I want to know about at least the progress each has made in their chosen areas of interest.    I find race-car driving idiotic, Russian culture irrelevant, skateboarding dangerous and frivolous, economics dull, ditto with computers, etc, but I ask questions and I listen because I get to hear what makes each of these dear, amazing people TICK, get to hear their excitement, their passion, and I love that.  And along the way, rarely, my interest is piqued.  And the relationship is fed, with the interest coming in  from my end.

Along the way, I may even learn a thing or two, or imagine this: EVOLVE a little by opening up and just listening to something I would otherwise disregard.

I wish that some of these people would at least hear what I have to say about what many consider to be cutting edge Science, would put down their walls of ignorance, and just listen.  They say they are so open minded, but their thinking is as stuck in the past as a hillbilly is stuck on the mountain.  Energy Medicine is real, it works, and it's free.  Anyone can do it with practice, and with more practice, one can see into another's aura and even the body, to diagnose what is wrong and know how to fix it. 

It took me awhile to break out of the concrete, but LO!  There is Light!  And wow, I wish my loved ones could see it.