How Others See Us
There is often considerable difference between how we see ourselves and how others see us. This should not be much of a surprise given that we are party to all the internal dialogue that no one else is.
We know the entire debate and reasoning that goes on in our own heads before any given action, yet others will only see the outcome without knowledge of our calculations. We know we always intended to return the library book even if the librarian thinks we are the lowest kind of scum, intent on depriving society of its chance to enhance its culture and education.
Although this difference of personal view should be obvious, it isn’t. And sometimes we wonder how on earth people have reached certain conclusions about us when it is abundantly clear to us that our real selves are someone quite different.
For example, Attila the Mom recently wrote a piece about how her blogging buddies all share at least one quality with her dog (Cheaper than Therapy: Blog Pimpin’ With the Dogg). Where some were listed with qualities such as “best friend ever”, “loyal and kind” and “chases balls with a vengeance”, she had me down as “warm and fuzzy”.
There’s no doubt that this contrasts dramatically with my own vision of myself as a sort of cross between Batman and James Bond, with a little bit of George Clooney thrown in, who just took a different career path so didn’t end up with the same opportunities to express himself.
Hmmm…
We know the entire debate and reasoning that goes on in our own heads before any given action, yet others will only see the outcome without knowledge of our calculations. We know we always intended to return the library book even if the librarian thinks we are the lowest kind of scum, intent on depriving society of its chance to enhance its culture and education.
Although this difference of personal view should be obvious, it isn’t. And sometimes we wonder how on earth people have reached certain conclusions about us when it is abundantly clear to us that our real selves are someone quite different.
For example, Attila the Mom recently wrote a piece about how her blogging buddies all share at least one quality with her dog (Cheaper than Therapy: Blog Pimpin’ With the Dogg). Where some were listed with qualities such as “best friend ever”, “loyal and kind” and “chases balls with a vengeance”, she had me down as “warm and fuzzy”.
There’s no doubt that this contrasts dramatically with my own vision of myself as a sort of cross between Batman and James Bond, with a little bit of George Clooney thrown in, who just took a different career path so didn’t end up with the same opportunities to express himself.
Hmmm…
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