Snakes, spiders and mice. OH My. The power of words and the states of mind...

[Dien Rice]

Hi Gordon,

Thanks for sharing all that! I found it very valuable...

In particular, it's true that everyone has an "imperfect" image of themselves, but then try to project a "more-perfect" image than their reality to others...

So - as I gather from your post - it's valuable to be able to see past this image that everyone is projecting, to the reality that is behind that... Which is a person with insecurities, their own problems, and so on...

I can see how this can be liberating! I'll have to mull this over some more...

Thanks!

Meanwhile... I'll tell a very short (kind of embarassing) story...

When I was about to enter 8th grade, I changed schools, because we were about to move houses. So I moved to a new school, closer to our new house...

Anyway, I saw this as a big chance to "experiment" socially. So, I tried a different "personality".

At my new school, the kids didn't know me - so this was a rare chance to try something like this with a "fresh" start...

Usually, I had been the "smart-alecky" geek. Anyway, I had also been a fan of Elvis movies in my youth. I liked his "rebellious" attitude that Elvis Presley always portrayed in these movies...

So, I thought I'd "be" an "Elvis-like" character. I practiced my sneer, and figured how to curl my upper lip. But most of all, I practiced his "devil-may-care" flouting-authority attitude...

Anyway, the bottom line is... It worked! I was quite popular among the other kids at my new school. They liked this new "personality" of mine! Girls thought I was pretty cool, and quite a few seemed to be attracted to me...

However, it was a bit like putting on an "act"... (Also, my grades plummeted - in line with my new "personality"!) Eventually (after about a year), I reverted to my more geeky (and less cool) self. But it was a very interesting social experiment! I could be "cool" if I wanted to be...

Thanks Gordon for sharing your experiences and wisdom...

Dien