FREE to be Me ...
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
A thought on LOVE for Valentines Day
"Since the beginning of time, love has been the source of both the highest bliss and the heaviest burdens. At the heart of misery you will find the love of wrong things. And at the heart of joy, you will find the love of good things."
Monday, February 7, 2011
To be Transparent
A recent discussion at a Relief Society event was centered around the question - What qualities do you find most likeable in other women? In other words, what draws you to become friends with them? Surely we know what qualities attract us to men, for we start noticing that around age __ (answers may vary).
My original answer was “women who are low-maintenance." You know... the kind that you love to have over because they genuinely don't care if your house is a mess - The kind that don't have to be doing something elaborate or expensive to have a great time - The kind that can laugh when their make up smears or their plans go horribly wrong.
After hearing some of the other answers in the group, there was another answer I liked even better. Women who are transparent. At first glance I realize this word has a negative connotation, but I would ask that you reconsider your grammatically instinctive feelings and consider the definition: Transparent = easily seen through, recognized, or detected. If you are transparent, I can see through you to the center of who you are. You are you, and you’ve always been you. You know your strengths just as well as you know your flaws. And other people can see them, recognize them, or detect them as well.
Since I am, let's be honest, probably never ever going to be as low maintenance as I would like to be (sorry Jake), I think I will try to achieve a degree of transparency. I want to be transparent. When you see me, I want you to see me. Kind of like on Avatar - "I see you" (sorry for the nerd reference, but I fully admit to loving that movie.) For all that I am, good and bad, and all that I’ve become. An honest depiction of my true desires that go all the way through me. Go ahead, view my strengths and weaknesses, so I know that I am being REAL.
So to all of you women out there who have "low-maintenance" tendencies or have achieved some level of "transparency" --- I find you likeable. :)
My original answer was “women who are low-maintenance." You know... the kind that you love to have over because they genuinely don't care if your house is a mess - The kind that don't have to be doing something elaborate or expensive to have a great time - The kind that can laugh when their make up smears or their plans go horribly wrong.
After hearing some of the other answers in the group, there was another answer I liked even better. Women who are transparent. At first glance I realize this word has a negative connotation, but I would ask that you reconsider your grammatically instinctive feelings and consider the definition: Transparent = easily seen through, recognized, or detected. If you are transparent, I can see through you to the center of who you are. You are you, and you’ve always been you. You know your strengths just as well as you know your flaws. And other people can see them, recognize them, or detect them as well.
Since I am, let's be honest, probably never ever going to be as low maintenance as I would like to be (sorry Jake), I think I will try to achieve a degree of transparency. I want to be transparent. When you see me, I want you to see me. Kind of like on Avatar - "I see you" (sorry for the nerd reference, but I fully admit to loving that movie.) For all that I am, good and bad, and all that I’ve become. An honest depiction of my true desires that go all the way through me. Go ahead, view my strengths and weaknesses, so I know that I am being REAL.
So to all of you women out there who have "low-maintenance" tendencies or have achieved some level of "transparency" --- I find you likeable. :)
