Friday night.
John: Do you think we see ourselves as others do? John had just returned from an afternoon of 105 degree golfing…
Me: Absolutely not.
John: That’s what I was afraid of.
Me: Why do you ask?
John: Today at lunch I saw a guy having his 50th birthday party, and he looked so OLD! Then I thought that’s probably how I look too…
Me: No you still look good…
John: Well, you don’t look 50 either.
Me: Well I’m not. Not for 10 more days….
John: True.
I just finished reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog for book club. LOVED IT. It made me think about each person’s invisible side. That hidden part no one really sees. That part we automatically tuck away deep inside, out of fear or pain or some other reason.
Is there any other reason?
And we aren’t capable of seeing others clearly due to our own limitations. The stereotypes we buy into. Our prejudices and preconceived notions. We inadvertently assign roles to individuals based on job titles or skin color or neighborhoods.
This book was not a light, sinful 50ShadesofGrey beachy pina colada read. It is meant to be savored and read slowly, and re-read to really get it. The language pulled me in, made me think. It made me see.
I laughed out loud. But it was sad. And profound.
There was a two-and-half-page RANT about a misplaced comma. What’s not to love!?
It was about seeing and being seen.
talya
Musical Pairings:
Mozart’s Confutatis
“… they have never seen you … I would recognize you anywhere. ”
― Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog
Thanks again for a great blog and for putting me onto another book for my “to read list”. By the way you look fantastic for 39. No, you look fantastic for 50. 🙂
Speaking of books, yesterday, I found a hardback copy of Hemingway’s The Moveable Feast that I had to have, even tho I have a softback copy. Maybe I’ll use it as a gift. I tried a book club once–a new one–and after the head librarian changed the book from the one I’d already bought and read, I decided that was NOT for me. Hope you have many esoteric, wine-laced experiences to share. Oh, I’m in Fairfield Glade TN with 3 sisters on our annual trip. Today, it is cool and breezy–so far.