Sunday, June 28, 2009

Autobiography of a Face

by Lucy Grealy

(summer reading ;) Let it begin! )

"I used to think truth was eternal, that once I knew, once I saw, it would be with me forever, a constant by which everything else could be measured. I know now that this isn't so, that most truths are inherently unretainable, that we have to work hard all our lives to remember the most basic things. Society is no help. It tells us again and again that we can most be ourselves by acting and looking like someone else......."

Sometimes in this thing called Life, there is nothing so relieving as to read someone else's thoughts as confirmation of one's own. A validation of shared perceptions.

It often frustrates me that I seem to learn something; to see it as a revelation-- only to discover a very short time later that my life has not changed perceptibly to accomodate this new way of seeing things. I've often blamed my inferior intelligence for seemingly needing to learn the very same thing over and over and over again.

inherently unretainable. That made me crave the release of tears of gratitude....

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

not quite getting your message, but needed to set you straight..
you have no inferior intelligence.
BB.

joyce said...

yeah... isn't it great when I write one of those posts that leaves people going;... HUH??

The book is about a young girl with cancer in her jaw; the journey of thirty surgeries, and the reality of a mishapen face for all of her life. And easy read, with some great insights.

Some of the ways she described what went on in her head really resonated with me. There were a few sentences that put into words how MY brain thinks.

Roo said...

xo

perrygirl :) said...

"...I seem to learn something; to see it as a revelation-- only to discover a very short time later that my life has not changed perceptibly to accomodate this new way of seeing things."

I think that's called human nature. It can be so disheartening. I was told that it takes 21 days to form a habit but only one to break it...old ways are comfortable and predictable.

Colleen Dyck said...

I totally get this. . you hit the nail on the head. .. well written. .. amazing.