I had a lovely session of people watching the other day. I do believe it is among my favorite mental sports. If you like you can make a game of it; it usually starts out this way. How many people can you spot wearing fluorescent orange socks? You get 10 points for calling out the first woman with 3 inch talons on her hands. Maybe even voice over a conversation (this requires a partner observer). As much fun as the games are, I inevitably resort to wondering who these people are. What sort of lives do they lead? She looks like a high-maintenance prissy-pants with her salon perfect hair and meticulously groomed toenails...but maybe she goes home to a man that beats her because her spaghetti is too red. That guy smells like a parking garage stairwell ...but maybe his wife just died and he's so clouded in grief he forgets to shower. Humans are incredible creatures, we're so infinitely complex! It always reminds me to try and not pass judgment on others based on a quick glance or brief encounter. Had I always been callous and dismissive there are a number of people in my life right now that simply wouldn't be. That's mad crazy! Many people judge because they are afraid of diversity, afraid they might realize the very things they deem negative in others, are in fact extensions of themselves. Holding up the almighty mirror to one's face is not, by nature, desirable. Maybe we're just afraid that the next person will be another black hole. We've all experienced it. Their gravity pulls you, you burn your rockets in every futile attempt to escape, but once you pass the horizon, the point of no return... you're stuck. You slowly drift to the crunch, waiting for that moment when you are crushed out of existence. No trace of who you are will survive, you cease into nothing but matter-free mass. Maybe that's derivative for the term 'to have a crush' on someone. Forgive me, if you haven't noticed, I'm very tangential. On those days when you want to do something, but you don't 'feel' like doing anything – try people watching.
Ciao.
Ladycroft's Journal
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06/16/2005 17:38 #25198
people watching05/31/2005 12:24 #25195
where do you sleep?A few friends from Boston came to visit me this weekend. I gave up my bed and did some couch camping. It made me wonder just how much time I've spent sleeping on floors and sofas in my lifetime. According to my calculations I have surpassed the 2 year mark. At first I thought that was something, but then I remembered who I am, and I wouldn't expect anything less! Ciao.
05/27/2005 10:51 #25194
go barefootFor the first time in 2 years I took my book outside to read. The sapphire sky was cloudless and sunny, the emerald grass was soft and sweet. I'm not afraid of bees anymore, so I didn't mind their buzzing in the plum tree I was rested against. Sometimes I feel the world slipping through my fingers. People are becoming so disconnected from the earth, from each other. When is the last time you took off your shoes and felt the earth beneath your feet?