Sunday, January 18, 2009

Hollow, Shadow Inspiration


While idling in the rental car this evening, I heard an interview concerning Barack Obama. The man on the radio said that the less we know about someone, the more apt we are to favor them. If someone says that we they "like music", you immediately jump to the conclusion that they may like the kind of music that you listen to. Although I don't believe that this is always true, I do think that people do fill in blanks. If you want to like someone, you give yourself reasons to like them. You assume that they share your convictions and that they would enjoy what you enjoy if they were given the chance. When you meet someone that you don't like, or have heard bad things about, you see them as a shadow; the darkest and most hollow version of themselves. How we perceive celebrities is probably the best example of this.

The family car has been down for a few days so we have been renting a car. The car is a newer model and rides swimmingly. My older brother and I were talking and he said that upon buying a new car, just moments after signing the papers and receiving the keys, the blue book price drops significantly (a few thousand dollars). To consider something so new and beautiful as sub par or slightly damaged goods seems like such a shame.


My brother also said that nice things, like the car or basically anything that someone with money can afford, makes him resent those that have more. For some reason he believes that rich people are just really lucky, and he is not. The car gives me inspiration and determination to do well in life. We can both agree that life is difficult and that ladies love boxer briefs.

Sometimes I gauge how much I like something by how terrible it makes me feel. I can tell I love someone by how hard I fall after everything is said and done. I know I am not gay because I am pretty confident that I could never be hurt by a man the same way I have been hurt by a woman (as well as a lack of attraction to the same sex). Emotions are so extreme as a child that I often find it hard to understand where I stand when it comes to preference. On the other hand, there are some things that I will always hold a childish candle to.

Children can watch a movie over and over again. Adults can too. The difference is that a child watches a film and always sees the same film. Adults watch a film again and again and will often see it differently after each viewing.

Speak easy,
Neil

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