Sometimes the things we don’t see are more real than the things we do see. Let me explain. When someone greets me and says, “Hello. How are you?” I realize they don’t really want to know that I found it hard to sleep last night, I have a leg ache, and several worries just won’t go away. So, I smile and say, “I’m fine. How are you?” Very polite, surface talk, but not actually the truth.
Is the person who always knows the answer for every question, really that smart or does he have a few feelings of inferiority which he tries to hide behind that brilliant facade? How about the critical person, in whatever capacity, who can’t find anything good to say about anyone? Is she trying to boost her own feelings of esteem? Why?
Sometimes I fortify myself with a good cup of hot coffee and watch a bit of political news. When I hear an elected official really tear into another’s character, I wonder what the motive is? Does he/she believe what he/she is saying or is she saying this to further an agenda? What are those things we don’t see on the television screen?
I like to psychoanalyze the characters in the mysteries I write. No, I’m certainly no psychologist but I’ve seen quite a few people in my years on earth and have noticed patterns, traits, reasons given and reasons hidden, and I think it’s very interesting. So, my characters all have reasons for acting as they do. Why, for example, was Pat so upset about her son’s marriage? Why did Bessiebelle want to make sure everyone knew she was a storehouse of local history? These two ladies had very good reasons for acting as they did, but these hidden things weren’t known to many people.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on this Friday morning as I finish my second cup of Folgers.The moon is full, there’s going to be an eclipse and at some point, a comet is going to brush close enough for us to see it. At least, with nature, what you see is what you get. That’s a comforting thought.
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