I walk into the coffee shop and start a conversation about climbing with the fellow working the register.
A girl comes into the room from another room and says "I got you" and joins our conversation about climbing, giving me some info on where I can climb around here.
As she walks back to her table I say "hey, wait a minute. Will you make eye contact with me for 60 seconds?"
"Sure!" she says, stopping to stand and face me and make eye contact immediately.
I suggest we sit at her table and we do. I extract the timer from my bag and explain: no looking away, no talking, breathing and blinking are OK. She says that she'll probably laugh and I say that that's OK, too.
Our eye contact is really pleasant. I am relaxed, both my posture and my breathing. It is easy for me to focus on her. I look almost exclusively at her left eye. The time seems to pass quickly. I am very happy to be making eye contact with her after three days of not doing LMEC. I am also happy that this is how I'm starting my day. I feel energized and optimistic.
Afterwards we talk about why I'm doing this project. I ask if she was consciously thinking of her posture, breathing, or swallowing. She says she thought about her posture.
Her name is Chelsea and she lets me take her picture.
