inside of ourselves

"you never know how inside of themselves people are." i read that long ago in a barbara kingsolver novel and it's stuck with me ever since. in any given situation, you don't really know where people are coming from. maybe they've had a completely shit week. maybe it's been awesome. maybe it's been both - up and down, like any other week. maybe they've just learned they have a terminal illness. maybe their father just died. maybe their mother with alzheimer's just failed to recognize them for the first time. maybe they just lost their job. maybe they just got a new one. maybe they just learned they're pregnant. or perhaps they miscarried. maybe they're tired or have a toothache. maybe they feel lonely or sad or joyful. you just don't know. maybe the path ahead of them seems clear. or perhaps it's obscured and murky. maybe they're relieved the sun is finally shining after too many days of rain. maybe their awesome boss just quit. maybe they feel like they're in limbo. perhaps they're caught up in needless office politics. what if they have a need to be right? to be comforted? to be understood? what if they feel bewildered and alone and cast adrift? what if they are newly in love and their stomach is full of butterflies? you just don't know. you can never really know. and quite possibly they'll never really be able to tell you. but maybe what they most need from you is that you see them - really see them. no matter how inside of themselves they are.

if i were...revisited

if i were a month i’d be september.

if i were a day i’d be friday.

if i were a time of day i’d be midnight.

if i were a font i’d be courier.

if i were a sea animal i’d be tuna.

if i were a direction i’d be true north.

if i were a piece of furniture i’d be one of those awesome foldable swedish tables.

if i were a liquid i’d be chardonnay sur lie from delheim.

if i were a gemstone i’d be a sapphire.

if i were a tree i’d be a maple.

if i were a tool i’d be a paintbrush.

if i were a flower i’d be a sunflower.

if i were an element of weather i’d be thunder clouds.

if i were a musical instrument i’d be a saxophone.

if i were a color i’d be aqua.

if i were an emotion i’d be content.

if i were a fruit i’d be a mango.

if i were a sound i’d be the purr of a cat.

if i were an element i’d be hydrogen.

if i were a car i’d be a smart car.

if i were a food i’d be forest mushrooms in garlic butter.

if i were a place i’d be home.

if i were material i’d be linen.

if i were a taste i’d be salty.

if i were a scent i’d be sisley no. 2.

if i were a body part i’d be hands.

if i were a song i’d be sheryl crow's all i wanna do.

if i were a bird i’d be a swan.

if i were a gift i’d be handmade.

if i were a city i’d be istanbul.

if i were a door i’d be painted blue.

if i were a pair of shoes i’d be stilettos.

if i were a poem i’d be ithaca by constantine cavafy.

and don't forget to check how i answered back in 2010 and 2011. i had completely forgotten about this list, i found it by following one of my own link within links, which is odd, because that's not something i normally do.  it was rather fun to just listen to my intuitive answers to the questions. drop me a comment if you try it too!

if i were (revisited)...

i did this exercise in "if i were..." about a year ago and i though it would be fun to see how many of my answers matched what i said then....

if i were a month i’d be september

if i were a day i’d be friday the thirteenth

if i were a time of day i’d be midnight

if i were a font i’d be garamond

if i were a sea animal i’d be a dolphin

if i were a direction i’d be left

if i were a piece of furniture i’d be arne jakobsen's egg

if i were a liquid i’d be a crisp south african chenin blanc

if i were a gemstone i’d be a garnet

if i were a tree i’d be a birch

if i were a tool i’d be a crowbar

if i were a flower i’d be a lilac

if i were an element of weather i’d be a thunderstorm

if i were a musical instrument i’d be a a saxophone

if i were a colour i’d be teal

if i were an emotion i’d be unsettled

if i were a fruit i’d be a papaya

if i were a sound i’d be loud

if i were an element i’d be fire

if i were a car i’d be a vintage mustang

if i were a food i’d be a very spicy curry

if i were a place i’d be a prairie

if i were material i’d be linen

if i were a taste i’d be chili

if i were a scent i’d be lilac

if i were a body part i’d be an eye

if i were a song i’d be sung by Sheryl Crow

if i were a bird i’d be a nightengale

if i were a gift i’d be something you'd never of dream of re-gifting

if i were a city i’d be seattle

if i were a door i wouldn't have a lock

if i were a pair of shoes i’d be converse all stars

if i were a poem i’d be ithaca by cavafy

i guess we grow and change, because not that many of my answers are the same...

what would happen if you were....come on, you know you want to play along!

if i were...

kimberly from numinosity did a beautiful list on her blog and i just had to give it a whirl myself, since it's friday and i love lists...

if i were a month i’d be march

if i were a day i’d be thursday

if i were a time of day i’d be 11:30 p.m.

if i were a font i’d be bulky refuse

if i were a sea animal i’d be a stingray

if i were a direction i’d be southwest

if i were a piece of furniture i’d be full of drawers

if i were a liquid i’d be gin (high quality gin)

if i were a gemstone i’d be turquoise

if i were a tree i’d be an evergreen

if i were a tool i’d be a hammer

if i were a flower i’d be a lemon blossom

if i were an element of weather i’d be a hurricane

if i were a musical instument i’d be a saxophone

if i were a color i’d be red

if i were an emotion i’d be intense

if i were a fruit i’d be a blueberry

if i were a sound i’d be loud

if i were an element i’d be uranium

if i were a car i’d be a porsche 911

if i were a food i’d be sushi

if i were a place i’d be ephesus

if i were material i’d be linen

if i were a taste i’d be chili

if i were a scent i’d be clary sage

if i were a body part i’d be an eye

if i were a song i’d be diamonds on the soles of her shoes by paul simon

if i were a bird i’d be a nightengale

if i were a gift i’d be handmade

if i were a city i’d be moscow

if i were a door i’d be unlocked

if i were a pair of shoes i’d be converse all stars

if i were a poem i’d be ithaca by cavafy

* * *

be sure to check out kimberly's list and if you were all these things, who would you be?
this was a really interesting exercise and i'm amazed how intuitively the answers sprang into my head.
come on, you know you want to try it. 

asking what if?

what if?

...we looked at the world from a different angle?

...things just fell into place as they should?

...people got to do that which they were meant to do?

...my neck didn't hurt?

...we knew exactly what direction to go?

...beautiful things appeared, fully formed, in our imaginations?

...the snow melted and snowdrops burst forth?

...the sun shined?

...there was time for all of the important things?

...someone brought me a steaming, fragrant cup of milky, sweet tea?

...the whole house smelled of cinnamon buns?

some of these are already true and i have faith that the rest of them will be...