no, not hash browns from waffle house...(though they sound rather tasty) today i listened to a lot of radio as i drove to and from birmingham. i went today to take a 'personality' test - my friends and i have been laughing saying they were going to see if i have one. (ha) but it was an interesting test - not unlike others i've taken in the past. the tests always try and validate your answers over and over so it will be interesting to see what strengths and weaknesses are displayed once my results are in.as always, part of the test asked me to describe me as my friends see me, as i see me and as an employer sees me. always interesting yes? then i read the always lovely susannah's blog and it made me think too. our friends love us despite our flaws, often the love we feel for ourselves is conditional and sometimes spotty or discounted, and then well, few employers really love 'us' but instead love the work that we do. so, the images that came to me were varied as i struggled to answer the question.
then, susannah posed the question - would you love you if you met you? of course, i think most people would answer that question yes. right? and if yes is the answer - then i ask the question, if we like ourselves (or even love ourselves) then why sometimes do we hesitate to treat ourselves better or not forgive ourselves? and i have read your blogs so, i know okay? so, be real.
the other question i have - do you have a different work personality than you do 'home' personality? of course there are professional limitations - we can't be all crazy...but, at work i can be pretty driven and sometimes aloof when i'm crunching on a project. totally opposite of my home personality when i'm laid back and chatty. just stuff running through my brain.
but...the most fun i had to day was going to the gardens - oh how i missed them. today it was hot as hades and humid. (typical southern weather - hot, steamy and sometimes stormy) as i walked into one of favorite sections of the gardens (the reflecting pool) i absolutely gasped. i had forgotten how gorgeous the water lilies an be and this year, they are even more glorious than last year. so i went sort of crazy...snapping that is. here are a few edited so far...
and in case lilies are not your thing...
beautiful photos. that test would have been interesting...At work I always had to be in some form of management and then when I got sick, I had to figure out who I was without it. I felt for awhile like I had no identity. kinda sad when I realize how much I put into my jobs and my family life was always second. Silliness. Take care
ReplyDeletegorgeous photos. all of them are lovely.
ReplyDeleteI read that on her blog too. I have been thinking about it ever since. There are some things that I do not like about myself but would I like me if I met me...the answer would be yes.
Oh wow...all of those photos take my breath away!
ReplyDeleteHmmm...If I met me would I like me? I think so! Maybe I am too biased ;)
I like when beauty makes me gasp. How fun to see all these gorgeous flowers, Char.
ReplyDeleteA personality test? Oh! I think my work personality is the same as it is at home. Cheerful bitch.
Ha!!!!
(I'm not really a bitch.)
I used to be a cheerful bitch, now I'm just a cheerful snark! LOL
ReplyDeleteI have about six best friends and I think each one of them provides something different that I need at any given time, so I'm thinking it probably works the same way on the other end. It's funny, but out of all those "bests", only one of them thinks the same way I do politically, and she is a fairly recent one. Does that mean I've changed over the years? Or could it be I'm less tolerant when choosing friends?
a little similar to my own post today. how do you like the view when you look out at your own life? that life is really how you see things.
ReplyDeletechar...the photos are amazing !
ReplyDeleteand hmmm....yep, I think I would like me if I was to "meet" me....
I try to be real all the time....and I've gotten pretty good at it :)
will you have results to share with us ?
i try to be real all of the time. it's all i know really. i am in a high pressured job though that gets intense and my silence is a face i put on to get through these moments. it's just my way of coping and yes- i would like me. ; )
ReplyDeletethese pic are so fab!!
Interesting question, I have written in my blog early on about portraying different persona's in diff. situations because I always tried to be what I thought others wanted. Now I've been finding me the true original one and only & as I read this today I realize that I am merging all those persona's into one & that I'm becoming more authenic wherever I am or with whomever. Thanks this is a interesting realization to ponder today.
ReplyDeleteLOVE that second photograph!
ReplyDeleteWow, gorgeous! What talent you have. I can almost feel the weather and see the gardens as if I were there.
ReplyDeleteOh, the lillies are wonderful, esp. the first one. Great job!!
ReplyDeletelove your photo work Char...bet the gardens are a treat!
ReplyDeleteOh...those lilies ARE gorgeous! I read somewhere that when natural beauty causes you to gasp, you've just perceived something with your heart, rather than your brain, and you instinctively breathe deeper suddenly, to breathe it in.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about that 'would I like me' question. Hmmm. I know myself well...but I'm shy which makes me appear snobbish somehow. I don't think I would like that. I wouldn't understand.
BTW, I think I may have forgotten to send you a reader invite...sorry. I sent another just in case.
in love with the first photo!
ReplyDeleteOh my, those are gorgeous photos, Char!
ReplyDeleteWould I like me if I met me? Probably, because I'm way nicer to other people than I am to myself... But at this point in my life, I'm grappling with another question: When people meet me, do they see the REAL me, or just a chubby, middle-aged woman? I hate being written off like that... :(
beautiful photos...now to go ponder.
ReplyDeleteLOVE these photos...and yes, I think I would like me if I met me. And always hope that is true.
ReplyDeleteI don't love myself (i think at one point i did but not now) however I think I would enjoy my company. Does that make sense?
ReplyDeleteI LOVE LOVE LOVE the waterlilies! Oh, they are so beautiful! Thanks for sharing these with us...and hopefully, you will include some of these images in your Etsy shop ;-)
ReplyDeleteChar, What interesting questions you do ask. Yes, I would like me. A lot. Yes, I am the same at home and at work. Full of fun, full of talk, full of opinions. My filter works better in public than at home though.
ReplyDeleteABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS photos!!!!
ReplyDeleteI love the water lillies! If I met myself, I think I'd tell Ms. Candi not to worry so much, and everything doesn't have to be done in one day.
ReplyDeleteI love the water lillies! If I met myself, I think I'd tell Ms. Candi not to worry so much, and everything doesn't have to be done in one day.
ReplyDeleteAt work I try just to keep my mouth closed: don't curse at anyone, don't make any offcolor jokes, don't laugh to loudly. I'm so distracted by the rules running through my head I usually am pretty quiet there.
ReplyDeletesome really thoughtful questions...i hope i would like me....i think your trip to the garden was stunning, the water flowers so intriguing always
ReplyDeleteThe first photograph of the pale purple water lilies is so beautifully clear and crisp and bright, Char. lovelylovelylovely.
ReplyDeleteAs for liking one's self at the end of the day, I ran into a childhood friend's grandmother today and assumed she wouldn't remember me since she hadn't seen me in 20 years. But she did remember me very well and told me, smiling, that I'm someone that's hard to forget. My reply was, "Well, I'd forget me if I could. Believe you me." She laughed. But it was a dark laugh. The kind folks give me when my humor isn't that appropriate for grocery stores. ha. I think that is my best answer to your question. At the end of the day, I'd like amnesia.
woa! fabulous shots--especially the purple flowers! so vibrant.
ReplyDeletehmmmm . . . let's see. i think some of my best friends are the ones that i see a lot of myself in. not in a conceited way. i just mean that they remind me a lot of myself--flaws and all. so i really do think that if i met myself that i would want to be my friend. still, i tend to be hard on myself sometimes. good points you raise. very thought-provoking. i tried to think about the question about if my work personality is different than my home personality. then i remembered i don't have a job, and i got depressed again. :)
glad to hear, by the way, in a previous post that your unemployment was extended. i'm going to need that as well, i think. i'm really starting to get worried here.
LOVE those water lilies... firs photo is REALLY gorgeous!
ReplyDelete