knowing me, knowing you

i think i had a post with a similar title a long time ago.
can't remember what it was about, but i think it ran along the lines of knowing people for who they are.

yesterday juni asked me if i ever thought that i did not know people enough.
on second thoughts, maybe i don't know people enough, but it is just that i do not perceive it.

in actuality, the scenario calls for interaction from both parties involved.
the knower and the knowee.
it is easier said than done, this whole getting to know each other better.
there are various levels of information that one may share with another person.
sometimes the information is readily shared, and sometimes the information has to be sussed out.

and it really depends on the level of comfort that you have with the other party, and how significant the other party is to you, and how significant you are to the other party.

i remember having had deep conversations with some people, lasting into the wee hours of the morning. for some of them, the relationships between us grew tremendously, but yet for some of them, the relationships have somehow waned.

it is not a one-off instance that makes you know a person. it is seeing them in all their nuances, environments, good and bad times - and it is not merely seeing or being a passive observer, it is about being a part of their lives that will make you know a person.

a further response to your question then, juni, would be that for those whom i dearly care for, i do make the effort to get to know them. to meet those whom they consider dear to themselves, and to know what drives them and what disses them, to be with them when times are good or tough, to see them cry, laugh, scream, despair, rage... and at all of this, i want to be a part of whatever happens.

and then i begin to love them, and everything else falls into place.