[Wedding, group blogs, and family function have kept me from posting for awhile. Here's to getting back into a routine!]
I'm a Harry Potter Fan, (not a rabid HP Fan, but a fan nonetheless). There is a part in book five where Harry was passed over for a position of some merit, and after some embarrassing moments he has a second to himself to take it in. He asks himself what he was really expecting, and 'an honest voice said "not this".' I've been searching for that honest voice in my own mind, and have had some trouble finding it.
The honest voice was squashed out of me at a very young age, and I have severe trouble trusting my own opinions thoughts and impressions. For example, when I was 9 or so I was riding in the car with my family. The discussion turned to colors, and I proudly proclaimed that green was my favorite color. My sister quite seriously said "No it isn't." Instead of insisting that green was my favorite color I immediately wondered what was my favorite color, since it couldn't be green.
This lack of honest-voice has made itself known in many ways. For one, I'm often absolutely enthralled by the idea that Heavenly Father knows me better than I know myself. Though this belief is quite accurate, I take it to extremes, for instance hoping that Heavenly Father will let me know what my real opinions are, and maybe show me what it is I like to do.
Another way my missing honest-voice is evident is through the nearly constant stream of chatter in my head. I'm always re-convincing myself of my stance on issues, my beliefs, my likes, and my feelings. It drives my husband nuts because I will repeatedly tell myself and him the myriad reasons why the conclusion we came to was correct. "Another reason why it's a good idea to get a house is because blah blah blah..."
I'm not sure if the honest-voice is self-esteem or not. I know I'm a talented important person who is loved, but do I know that because my honest-voice tells me so, or do I know it because someone else told me what my opinion about myself is.
I think, in this world of advertising, opinion editorials, and bossy older sisters an inner honest-voice is a vital thing to have. We should all be able to ask ourselves "do I really need a hamburger to feel manly?" and honestly answer "no." To ask "what is important to me about toxic issue X?" and answer "the children!" To ask "What is my favorite color?" and answer, without second-guessing "Green!"
3 comments:
Hey, so I didn't read any of this post past the first sentence, since I haven't read book 5 yet and didn't want to run into any spoilers. But I did come across this today and was blown away. Kinda cool, eller hur?
Don't worry Rich, I would not consider anything in this post to be a spoiler. However, the link you gave was indeed way cool. It seems like they've been trying to make something like that with fiber-optics for years. It's good to see they're making progress.:)
Okay, read the post, and no, no spoilers thankfully. Guess I'm sensitive, as I hit one on a local astronomy mail-list I'm on which threw a bunch out there without warning a few months ago and I was pretty bummed about it.
My favorite color has always been green too, but darn it if the Iris that popped up in our new yard this year didn't tempt me to switch and say "iridescent violet"! Stunning colors, guess a better answer is "it depends on what i'm looking at and when".
It's human nature and perhaps even a sign of objectivity to be open enough to change your opinion to match that of someone you respect or admire (or fear even), like parents or older siblings (and even if that isn't always true it sounds good anyway ;o)
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