Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Observations Pt. II

Power Lines
Every single day I drive by them—power lines. Wires connecting to tall wooden poles, strung across roads, houses, yards, fields. How often do I actually notice them? At the most, once a week. They are so normal, so completely ordinary that they come to blend in with the surroundings. The only time anyone notices them is, well, when someone crash into one and forces the whole neighborhood to eat their ice cream before it melts. These leafless trees are not as commonplace as they might seem nowadays though.
More and more of them are being replaced with underground lines so that we can blame the groundhogs rather than mankind for the obesity epidemic. In many suburban neighborhoods this is the case, as well as in a number of progressive foreign countries, such as the Netherlands. For myself, returning to the States caused me to notice them again as they seemed strange and a bit old-fashioned all of a sudden. Why don't we all stop and think about power lines once in a while? Admire their rustic "beauty"?  Imagine ourselves tightrope walking across them? Or remember to thank the PG&E workers next time we see them fixing one?




Alone
"Person" plus "alone" equals "lonely". At least, according to "society," whatever that may be. But why do we believe this equation to be true? According to Sir Google, the definition of "alone" is "having no one else present; on one's own." His definition "lonely" on the other hand is "sad because one has no friends or company." This shows that being "lonely" is actually but a subcategory of "alone." By this logic, I'd be a whale, simply because I am a mammal. Does this mean we are afraid to be judged for being alone simply because someone else is bad at math? Why isn't this something we strive to fix? Being alone provides an opportunity for deep thought, seeing the world, using all five senses, creativity, new ideas, prayer, rest, inside jokes with yourself, and so much more. How come, in this culture where "innovative thinking" is so prized, we don't encourage being alone?

Grinmacing
"Say cheese!" my friend's mom yells as we pose for a picture at her graduation party. The poets may have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese, but moms with cameras sure haven't! Why do we even say "cheese" to smile for a picture? Who thought of that? Why not say "beans" or something of the sort? And why do we smile for pictures anyway? If you ever come across a picture from 19th century you'll notice that no one is showing off his or her pearly-whites. Solemn and staring straight ahead, it sometimes confuses us. We wonder why they didn't smile back then. But why don't we turn it around? Why do we smile when posing for pictures nowadays? Do we value our masks more than our honesty? Why do we hide the grimace with a grin?

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