Have you ever wondered why a person might wrap her body around with so many stories and excuses and mythologies, when all the fears and secrets she has are perfectly ordinary, perfectly visible anyway?
Wrapped in clothing is a way to make a women or even a man less vulnerable to the public eye. Closing (or changing clothing) in one’s life is not simple. It may be to that person, but it’s all the people around that seem to have opinions that make it harder to transition. Life is just a journey towards death, as my dearly beloved nephew said. Wisdom from a 23 year old. Clothing. Many people judge you on what you wear outside, not what you wear inside. As I start on my new journey, I figure where one door closes another opens, and well, what I clothe myself in, it’s a matter of who you are that will judge me. Personally I don’t feel I have the right to judge. That’s not my job. This site has the most amazing visuals that say alot about who and what we are. Not just women, but men too.
Why the change? It originally said “truths” instead of “stories”
Just curious, really. It’s beautiful either way. Makes me think about how sometimes we take the stories told to us as truth, regardless of whether it is actually true.
You’re attentive! I usually do a few drafts of these before going live. Usually no one sees them. Draft one was ‘truths’, draft two was ‘”truths”‘ (in quotations) and draft three was ‘stories’. I loaded the wrong one. Blame the tequila.
I think they all work, but that the word ‘stories’ is more accessible or clear. I was hesitant to use the word at first because three of my last four episodes use it.
And yes, the sense in which I meant ‘truths’ was like you say, close the ‘stories we believe’ or even ‘stories we need to believe about ourselves to stay sane’.
When you mask yourself in stories, you also get to choose which stories to tell. Tell enough stories and eventually it’s hard for people to tell which one was the real one or if there was ever a real one at all.
Not entirely foolproof but I’ve seen it work before.
What is “perfectly ordinary” to an observer may well be a life-shattering event to the one experiencing it directly.
Stories are often a kind of camouflage (sp?).
That’s what camouflage is all about–being invisible while being perfectly visible. The trained eye can spot the fawn frozen in plain sight.
It’s not about untruth–it’s about making your particular reality survivable.
I love this site. The postings are very pensive and real. To the story theme, life IS a story. Books are often written, jokes are often told of life stories. Some are just embellished, hence they become stories and partial truths. These are therapeutic. Writing, painting, joking. Life’s reality recreated in the form of art and acting.
Exactly. And even the wildest, most far from historically true stories tell a lot about the person. I like the way stories and revelation are treated in Big Fish. For some reason I am just remembering that movie now.
I think the stories we wrap ourselves in as protection can often betray us. Perhaps our choice of story reveals more about what’s beneath than we would like to admit.
And of course, life is a story.
“People are like almanacs, Bonnie – you never can find the information you’re looking for, but the casual reading is well worth the trouble.” – Zelda Fitzgerald, Save Me The Waltz.
does the person really treat it as “secrets” or does the curious consider them as such because he’s not privy to the info he wants?
valuing and honoring privacy isn’t synonymous with keeping secrets. if i keep mum about your story it’s not because i consider it your secret. it’s simply because it’s YOUR story, not mine, to tell.
if you wanted others to know your truth, you would share it with them without me beating you to it.
as for me, i choose the person i tell my story to. the number of details depend on the degree of trust i have for her.
Love this.
Wrapped in clothing is a way to make a women or even a man less vulnerable to the public eye. Closing (or changing clothing) in one’s life is not simple. It may be to that person, but it’s all the people around that seem to have opinions that make it harder to transition. Life is just a journey towards death, as my dearly beloved nephew said. Wisdom from a 23 year old. Clothing. Many people judge you on what you wear outside, not what you wear inside. As I start on my new journey, I figure where one door closes another opens, and well, what I clothe myself in, it’s a matter of who you are that will judge me. Personally I don’t feel I have the right to judge. That’s not my job. This site has the most amazing visuals that say alot about who and what we are. Not just women, but men too.
Why the change? It originally said “truths” instead of “stories”
Just curious, really. It’s beautiful either way. Makes me think about how sometimes we take the stories told to us as truth, regardless of whether it is actually true.
You’re attentive! I usually do a few drafts of these before going live. Usually no one sees them. Draft one was ‘truths’, draft two was ‘”truths”‘ (in quotations) and draft three was ‘stories’. I loaded the wrong one. Blame the tequila.
I think they all work, but that the word ‘stories’ is more accessible or clear. I was hesitant to use the word at first because three of my last four episodes use it.
And yes, the sense in which I meant ‘truths’ was like you say, close the ‘stories we believe’ or even ‘stories we need to believe about ourselves to stay sane’.
Either way, I hope you like it!
Britons do not get my love for tequila.
I joined Phi Kappa (http://www.phikappa.org/) for the lesbian body shots, no joke.
Now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen my British friends brandishing tequila, either.
We only dare do it in small amounts, the results on us cider drinkers can be… unexpected. Though always fun.
When you mask yourself in stories, you also get to choose which stories to tell. Tell enough stories and eventually it’s hard for people to tell which one was the real one or if there was ever a real one at all.
Not entirely foolproof but I’ve seen it work before.
http://th04.deviantart.net/fs70/300W/i/2010/020/2/a/__Geisha_by_Selenys.jpg
:)
What is “perfectly ordinary” to an observer may well be a life-shattering event to the one experiencing it directly.
Stories are often a kind of camouflage (sp?).
That’s what camouflage is all about–being invisible while being perfectly visible. The trained eye can spot the fawn frozen in plain sight.
It’s not about untruth–it’s about making your particular reality survivable.
I love this site. The postings are very pensive and real. To the story theme, life IS a story. Books are often written, jokes are often told of life stories. Some are just embellished, hence they become stories and partial truths. These are therapeutic. Writing, painting, joking. Life’s reality recreated in the form of art and acting.
this is really beautiful.
It feels to me like a home away from home. :) A tiny paradise out there in never never land.
Who is to say if the ‘stories’ and alternate truths we wear as shells are any less a part of us than the core underneath?
Exactly. And even the wildest, most far from historically true stories tell a lot about the person. I like the way stories and revelation are treated in Big Fish. For some reason I am just remembering that movie now.
I think the stories we wrap ourselves in as protection can often betray us. Perhaps our choice of story reveals more about what’s beneath than we would like to admit.
And of course, life is a story.
“People are like almanacs, Bonnie – you never can find the information you’re looking for, but the casual reading is well worth the trouble.” – Zelda Fitzgerald, Save Me The Waltz.
This picture is also just a story one can wrap the world in :)
In the end? Sounds like a beautiful story.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt2zoY45508
does the person really treat it as “secrets” or does the curious consider them as such because he’s not privy to the info he wants?
valuing and honoring privacy isn’t synonymous with keeping secrets. if i keep mum about your story it’s not because i consider it your secret. it’s simply because it’s YOUR story, not mine, to tell.
if you wanted others to know your truth, you would share it with them without me beating you to it.
as for me, i choose the person i tell my story to. the number of details depend on the degree of trust i have for her.