What Constitutes Judgment?

So, recently, a good friend of mine was talking about how she was talking to a good friend about a problem and how said friend was really great about not judging her. However, this raised a question - what constitutes not judging someone? Is it not forming an opinion about someone's actions/situation, or simply doing a good job of masking said opinion?

I believe (correct me if I'm wrong), therapists and various other professionals are trained to hide any opinions or judgments from their clients. However, I've always thought 'man, I wonder what goes through their heads after some of their sessions'.

That, and is it really possible to not form an opinion on someone's actions, especially in some extreme situations? Yeah, there's that whole 'walk a mile in someone's shoes' bit, but does ANYONE actually do that? Is it possible to even prevent your mind from forming an opinion - even if you don't mean to, isn't it a somewhat semi-conscious snap reaction in the first place?

I know a lot of people who claim they don't judge - however, I do know from talking to them about various other people that they do. They just make a point of not doing it to the person's face.

What constitutes not judging someone? Is it not forming an opinion, or simply not expressing it? Is it possible to not form an opinion? Is there anywhere we can actually go to not be judged?

Filene's Basement Wedding Dress Sale

So, today, the Chicago Sun-Times had one of its book sales. It looked a little like this....



Despite the pushing and shoving, I was able to get some good finds. For instance:



It will help give me material for my next Tina Fey impersonation. I couldn't help but think some of my coworkers were looking at me and possibly judging me, for it gave the appearance that I'm a 'Sarah' fan. This is why I sometimes hate buying books at public places, like bookstores. Unless it's a typical best-seller, someone is judging your choice and making assumptions about your personality. I always say the book I'm looking at is a gift for someone, even if it isn't. I, at first, loved amazon for the reason of buying books in private, UNTIL they started recommending books to me that 'I might like based on other books I've viewed'. Ugh. Anyhow. The goodness of a booksale can't be passed up for this reason alone. I got some other good shameful products while I was there, including....



In short - how to find your soulmate using THE SECRET....I look forward to panning it in a review shortly....

Also,



California Dreams Seasons 1 & 2. For nostalgia purposes alone...don't judge.