Poem: Reflection
Thank you for stopping by. This poem can now be found in my poetry collection “Origami Stars and Hot Air Moon” published by Winter Goose Publishing.
Origami Stars and Hot Air Moon
COPYRIGHT © 2020 by Mandie Hines
Winter Goose Publishing
Hmm, I can totally relate.
🙂
I feel the same… to me this has some similarities to Plato’s cave applied to yourself.
Interesting observation, Björn. I think that’s a good comparison.
I love this, Mandie.
Not only are the words beautifully written and artfully constructed but I think you speak for many of us who don’t always recognise ourselves.
The readings that I post are nothing like my voice, although I am told it is exactly how I sound. Go figure!
It’s interesting how skewed our perception of ourselves is, but also, how skewed other people’s perceptions of us are as well. I’ve had many people make assumptions about me that baffle me on why they would ever assume something about me.
I was just having a conversation with my writing group about this very thing last week. I’m an introvert, but what people don’t tend to understand is that introverts can behave in much the same way as extroverts. We don’t have to appear to be shy, we’re not all socially awkward (although sometimes I feel like I am even if I’m not), and we can speak to large crowds appearing to be confident, even when the internal perception doesn’t feel calm or confident. It just takes more energy for an introvert to do this, so if there’s a time when I am around a lot of people where I can be quiet and just observe people, I will do so happily. The consequence of this by observers is that I’m being unsocial at those moments, people tend to think I’m unapproachable at those times, and that I am being judgmental (I guess people tend to feel there’s no other reason to silently watch people unless it’s to judge them, I personally don’t get this). All I’m really trying to do is take a little break from what feels like pure chaos.
That’s a long way of saying that there’s an additional layer that I was thinking about when writing this poem.
I see myself much like you. I too am an introvert, but have no problem with public speaking, nor do others consider me shy. In fact, I can be quite the entertainer, but I certainly need a lot of “me” time to rest and refuel between public outings. What I really hate is social events where small talk is expected.
I agree with you about social events. I do much better when the conversation is one-on-one, but when it’s a social engagement where I have to make small talk in a small group, it’s much more difficult. The one exception is maybe at a writing conference, where I already know the shared interest of the group. It’s hard to shut me up once I start talking about writing, but not everyone is as interested in that topic as other writers.