I love to people watch. I like to imagine who they are and what their lives are like. I figure people have the right to watch me, too. But I really hadn't given much thought about them watching me until this morning.
I was in the airport, waiting to catch a plane to Baltimore. I thought about what I represented by the things I had physically with or on me. I was lugging a suitcase with a Mickey Mouse head on it, wearing a jacket with a breast cancer pink ribbon on it, and carrying a tote that had several marathon patches sewn on it. I obviously could stand to lose a few pounds, am middle-aged, and travelling alone but wearing a wedding ring. I wondered what people might imagine about me based on what they saw. Was I an adult Disneyphile or a breast cancer survivor? Was I headed to Baltimore to meet someone or returning home? Were the race patches mine or did I borrow the tote?
These thoughts led me to think a little more closely about the me I want to represent, and I realized that the me I want people to know can't be expressed passively. If I want people to know me, I have to interact with others. I have to extend my personality and connect, rather than let my "stuff" tell my story.
It's easier to hope people will get to know you by the t-shirt you wear or the sticker on your car or the stuff you carry with you. But all that does is espouse the subject of your sign. It doesn't always tell anything about you.
So maybe the next time I'm people watching, I'll try people knowing instead. Maybe I'll ask about the book someone is reading or the trip someone is taking. Maybe instead of imagining a story, I'll get their real story and they will get mine. The Mickey t-shirt or the Obama button or the expensive watch won't tell their story - they will. Maybe we will find out exactly who we're representin' - the hearts and the souls of the people we are.
No comments:
Post a Comment