Everybody makes such a big deal about snowflakes. Maybe it's all that intricate detail, tiny white crystals creating sharp contrasts as the water molecules bond to one another. Maybe it's the refreshing way they melt against your skin or in your mouth as you run back and forth in the storm like a fool, aiming your tongue at the biggest flake you can find in the falling sky. Or maybe it's just as they say - that snowflakes are special because each one is unique in the universe. Regardless of the cause for snowflake appeal, those little drops of water ain't got nothing on you! No matter how little shows up on the surface, you are far more intricate, refreshing and unique than any snowflake. The only reason everyone doesn't go ga-ga every time you fall into a room is because no one knows how to see you. But it's not hard. Here's how - try this with anyone who will agree to it: 1. Sit down facing each other. 2. Look into each others' eyes for at least three minutes. 3. No talking. 4. No looking away. 5. Blinking is okay. This isn't a staring contest. 6. Clear your mind. 7. Wait for a feeling to hit you. 8. Hold onto that feeling. Imagine what it looks or feels like. Wait for the words to arrive to explain it. 9. When the three (at least) minutes are up, share your impressions. What you will discover is that the eyes are the window of the soul, the entranceway to everyone's inner art gallery. With practice, you'll learn to see and understand people more deeply than you thought possible. You'll learn to screen out your own imaginations and projections and trust your perceptions enough to overcome your doubts. If this wasn't true, if you couldn't really see into someone just by looking, then why can eye contact be so intimate, so uncomfortable, so exciting or vulnerable or rude or frightening? If all you could see was the color of their irises, then eye contact would be none of those things. Remember the movie Contact where the aliens tell Jodie Foster about how alone our species is as individuals? It doesn't have to be that way. When you get used to seeing people's insides along with the outside, you'll find connections like you've never imagined before. You'll discover how fascinatingly unique everyone is. You'll even discover that our faults aren't so terrible after all - they're only protections or lessons we haven't yet learned. You will recognize that people are inherently good - though we often pile plenty of crap atop that goodness - and you will naturally turn that same charitable judgment upon your own flaws and shortcomings. What are you waiting for? Whose art gallery will you peruse?