“’Hell is other people’ (J-P Satre). But so is heaven”
Johnathan Haidt, The Happiness Hypothesis. Read it!
I remember doing a training exercise years ago, in which we
had to cut out magazine pictures of things that were important to us and make a
poster of them. Many people did pictures of family, forests, sea, fashion,
pets, books, etc. What would be on yours? I covered mine with pictures of
people. (I remember being frustrated when someone called it ‘conservative’ but
it showed me photos in magazines really are of a narrow sector of society!) Yes,
I love nature and books and movies and all those other things, but at the end
of the day, what really matters is other people in my life. Although I do agree
with Satre – people can also drive me nuts!
Yesterday a friend posted this on facebook;
(from The Idealist’s Photo website)
which reminded me of an
old poem I wrote years ago & recently dug out of one of the screeds of
journals which litter my bedside table, to
type up. I can still adore people for something as simple as the way they
smile, laugh, look after another person, move, tell a story, or speak.
Just as long as I don’t
have to live with them all….
I
fall in love all the time
Just
at a glance
I
can fall
head over heels
for
no reason at all
I
fell in love
with
my daughter’s doctor
his
gentle accent
his
delicate words
talking
about her
asking
about her
the
way he carried his tall torso
as
he leaned over her
checking
her little body
the
tubes and wires
her
heartbeat
as
she lay
healing
on the bed
I
fell in love
with
a friend of a friend
her
laughter
her
sorrow
as
she told of the fire
that
destroyed her house
Her
hair bounced, shook,
as
she swished it out of the way
The
distress of the recollection
shattering
the smile on her lips
I
fell in love with an aunt-to-be
(they
never quite made the wedding
before
the uncle died of cancer)
At
the funeral
her
tear-stained eyes
her
bittersweet smile
her
kind words for everyone else
her
honesty, directness, openness
admitting
her vulnerability
She
warmed herself to me
I
fall in love all the time
Just
at a glance
I
can fall
head
over heels
for
no reason at all
Effing brilliant! I love it! more, more!!!!Encore!
ReplyDeleteAww, thanks - u my No 1 fan :)
Delete