The lame figure may suggest a problem from the past that a person cannot shake off. Perhaps they use alcohol or other substances as a crutch to make the situation more bearable. From a rational perspective this never solves the problem. Yet I can understand why people do it. Most likely because they do not yet have the inner or outer resources to cope. It is easy to tell people to face their problems head on when we know nothing of their actual circumstances. I'm reminded of something a blind and mentally disabled woman said to me at an art workshop 'some things cannot be fixed so they are just left broken'. I knew exactly what she meant. The fixer in me still fights it.
Your post makes me think of the Japanese value of wabi-sabi - seeing the beauty in what is transient and imperfect. Also Kintsugi - the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. I think if we could find the good before pointing out the imperfections, we might have a better perspective.
ReplyDeleteYes seeing the good is so important especially where people are concerned. I don’t think anyone does well when continually berated and made to feel shame. Unfortunately it seems there are a fair few people who don’t realise this or perhaps they do and simply don’t care.
Deletewhen I was in beauty college I was assigned a lady for a cut and roller set. Her head bobbed and bobbed and bobbed about...I finally asked her if she would hold still please. And of course she had a disease that made it impossible. SO embarrassed. We became friends though and she would always ask for me when she came in.
ReplyDeleteWe can try to leave the past in the past, those hardships behind, but wherever we go there we are.
ReplyDeleteWe may wish to have no past but without it we have no present or future either
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