There is a Shallow Pond

There is a shallow pond. It's surrounded by grasses, and so inevitably, by dandelions. Sometimes, when their sunny faces grow tired and the wind carries their remains into the sky, I think of myself.

A tuft of dandelion, able to float above the world, able to be a thoughtful bystander, only to watch as life rolls along below it. This privilege doubles as a curse, as many do, as to be able to fly so high, it must be small and light. Weak and insignificant. In exchange for the ability to see the world, it has to relinquish all control to the wind. Maybe it will land in the grass and grow. But more than likely, it will land on the sidewalk, or maybeon the asphalt. In all reality, it could land in the grass and still not grow, fated to a life of insignificance. There is a shallow pond. Stones and pebbles lining its bottom. Curiously, they say none of the rocks originated in the pond. Each of them found their way from the land by itself. Each rock had its opportunity to affect the pond as it entered. The smaller ones fell in quietly, barely a splash and sometimes a ring or two of motion. The bigger rocks made great splashes, rolling ripples across the pond in its entirety and sending the stones at the bottom tumbling. This tumbling eroded away at the pebbles below, sometimes polishing the stones, and sometimes breaking them apart. Being polished was preferred, naturally, but truthfully, each chip in a rock was simply a mark of individuality, a way of identification.

It may be assumed then, that the bigger the rock, the more impact it will have on this shallow pond. Assumptions are bad conclusions. During storms, winds pick up the tiniest of rocks and violently drop them into the pond, rippling like no other. The boulders are too big to be picked up and instead are rolled smoothly into the pond.

When in times of content,I want to be the biggest of rocks, disregarding that things are already okay and making my impact anyway. During storms, times of trouble, I want to be the pebble that rises to the occasion, when the usually great borders cannot. The life of a dandelion tuft just isn't for me...

Ignorance Opens the Door for Imagination

A while ago, I poured my rather confused thoughts onto this virtual piece of paper about ignorance and what I considered my philosophy on it. Risking the embarrassment I may be forced to endure if this is read in a couple years time, I will once again, pour my rather confused (but slightly more organized) thoughts onto this upgraded (Google Chrome is better than Internet Explorer) piece of paper.

First, a little back story. I've met two people in my (admittedly short) lifetime that can make the world around me blur when I'm with them, make my insides glow with bliss and bubble with joy, and fog my vision of any problems with the artificial reassurance that they can eradicate world hunger with a smile. One, my lovely pediatrician (who is actually a nurse-practitioner), and two, a lady I've seen in church twice.

Now, I could very easily dismiss what can only be described as the bubbly feeling I get when I'm around them as aura compatibility, but that wouldn't be very convincing, would it? Besides, I yearned to be like them, spreading good cheer wherever I went. And so, while voraciously doing my homework and definitely not procrastinating whatsoever, I mulled over how this could be- Why is it that these ladies gave me such positive feelings? Not just me, mind you. I noticed that the people around them reacted to them the same way I did

It was certainly not completely based off their personality. I see my pediatrician once (okay, I get hurt a lot, maybe more along the lines of twice or thrice) a year, which equates to about 45 minutes maximum interaction time with her, and the lady at church, I've only heard say 5 words: "Come here." and "Body of Christ." However, both of them did ooze confidence in the way that they held themselves, and appeared to have many leadership qualities. Almost as if they could easily keep a hundred 5-year-old's on sugar highs in line with a look and a smile. Speaking of which, both of their smiles were very kind and reassuring.

And if I'm being totally honest, a big part of it was that they both were incredibly pretty. My breath caught a little when I first saw both of them, and I'm pretty sure this characteristic set off the wide-eyed and completely in awe reaction, which was set in stone by their confidence.

The rest, is imagination. I'm pretty sure that the biggest factor of my admiration is the fact that I don't know them at all. I don't know who they are, how they act, if they're actually as powerful as they seem or if they're simply egotistic and derogatory. This ignorance of their true persona has given me a mighty liberty- the freedom to give them whatever personality I please. In my mind, they can be just as perfect as they appear, the perfect candidate to look up to. In my mind, they can have the ability to fix all the problems of the world. In my mind, they can do anything. And this illusion I've conjured up is what's driving this awe I hold of them.

Applying this idea to celebrities, I wondered what the difference between myself and say, any given actress on the Disney Channel is. My first thought was that they had different dreams than I, and had the capabilities and motivation (and terrible supportive parents) to accomplish their dreams in a timely (as in before they become legal adults) manner. They're successful. That's why people look up to them- they've accomplished their dreams already, something most of us are still aspiring to do.

And perhaps that they're rich and glamorous plays a part in our almost-worshiping views on these people(not just Disney Channel, mind you, any celebrity). But I think a big part of it is that we don't actually know them. This ignorance of their real self lets a mind wander, creating a terrible personality (if you yearn to be a hater) or a godly personality (if you want to deepen your idolization). I'm almost positive that once an actual personality is revealed, the magic of the unknown disperses and their status is reduced to simply a human being who could very likely be your next door neighbor.

All in all, not knowing sometimes can be the best, as the best role model is one without flaws. And one like that, of course, can only be obtained through the ignorance of flaws and the forming of a beyond perfect persona.



In other news, I did a little clean up around here to lessen my mortification when reading things over. I hope you don't mind too much.