Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Categories

A person has various people in their lives for a wide variety of reasons. Parents, siblings, friends, lovers, teachers, co-workers. They all have specific titles because they fit into a different part of your life. Sometimes a single person will fit into more than one category. Co-workers can become friends. Teachers can as well. Friends can become lovers and lovers can become friends. The positions people have in our lives are normally specialized. I have friends I can call up to go to a museum, and other friends I can play catch with. But I know each person's place. Then others can surprise you by fitting into many categories. Best friends can transcend into relationships. And Friends can fizzle away into acquaintences. We all experience such transitions. And most people only know parts of each of us.

Example: my friend from school miss fong can be described as a printmaking and volleyball friend. I have also shared more personal things with her, but for the majority of college, she and I hung out through these common interests.

Is it possible to get to know a single person in all aspects of their lives? Can one person understand each portion of you? Is it wrong to keep parts of yourself strictly to yourself when you know another person wants to transition and visit a different part of your personality. This was part of a discussion last night. I was told "I feel like there is a part of you I don't really know." This was difficult for that person. The part of me that has remained just beyond reach is my writing self. Only few people know me and my writing as one person. It's really only students and teachers from my classes- some who have made the transition into friendship. I've never shared my writing with my oldest friends or people I hold relationships with. This has to change for a few reasons. 1: because I have to get over being so worried about how people will view my personality based on my writing. "You're twisted" has been a quote more than once. but releasing it into the open means not caring how others connect you to your art. 2. because allowing someone to accept you means allowing them the chance to know you completely. A very difficult thing to accomplish.

In any case, I live a compartmentalized life. I am aware of this. I have many different faces and each of them is a part of me. We are all like this. Some people just blend them better than I have. But part of recognizing ones short comings is a chance to change them. That sounds annoyingly optimistic but I'm ok with that. Annoyingly optimistic is better than doomed. And expansion and exploration of new methods of living are certainly positive.

1 Comments:

At 11:54 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

you know, miss berman, alas, i am not in new york. you could, perhaps, come visit me in toronto, or else i will have to wait until after vietnam to see you.

its funny, this phenomenon, where people in relationships kind of build their own lives, and need either other people in relationships, or no one at all. i don't get it.

but i miss you anyway, and those were some good times we had, back when we were single.

 

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