Seeing Is(n't) Believing

Never believe what you see with your eyes, 
For, more often than not, what you behold are lies.
Painted on smiles, with heads held high,
All of it is just a mask, a grand disguise -
In this pitiful, moment we call LIFE.


OK, I'm no poet.  It just popped into my head as I was brushing my teeth.  It rhymed, so it stuck.  I saw myself tonight.  No, I did not look at myself in the mirror and see my reflection.  I looked in the mirror and I saw 'me'.  The me I try to hide.  The me that all of us try to hide.  Within the past few days I've had the opportunity to catch up with a few old friends...chat with friends that are facing their own giants...and hold the hand of a scared friend.  For those moments, their guard was down.  The mask was removed and I was able to see THEM.  It was a short amount of time, with each.  Sometimes just enough to get out one sentance that said..."Im scared" "Im hurting" or "I messed up". 

Sometimes I walk thru the grocery store or see people on the streets and I wonder about their "story".  We all have one.  Is yours fiction?  I will not even try to lie, MINE IS!  In this technology driven world, things like twitter and Facebook  keep us all 'attached' and yet, I do not feel any closer to anyone.  We are all connected, but the other night, in the middle of a FIT, I had no one to call.  So, where is the connection?

Now, please don't stop posting pictures of your BLOOMIN' ONION from the OUBACK.  Don't hold back on announcing your undying love for your spouse on account of me being snippy.  I actually do have a point here.  This is all foundational, I'm building on this concept.  Stay with me.

Our eyes take in so much that we know better than to believe.  Just think of the last three action movies you saw.  Believe any of it?  Of course not.  Think of the last 'big name' magazine you looked at, do you really buy into what you see?  We KNOW better!  Models actually do have cellulite, they do have wrinkles that can be airbrushed...zits that can disappear instantly and dark circles vanish into thin air with the right graphics man at the mouse!   But we see a friend with a smile and a nod and we say..."she's doing GREAT!"  (after all, we SAW her smile). 

The old saying goes, 'seeing is believing'.  When was that quote coined?  I looked it up.  It was something that started almost 2,000 years ago.  Yes, it was in reference to the resurrection.  So, can we really use that phrase anymore?  I seriously doubt the kind Jew that doubted the resurrection of The Christ had ever seen SPIDERMAN swing from webs that had shot out of his wrists through a city's downtown buildings?  Yeah, I THINK the phrase is outdated.  It really has no part in our society anymore.  SEEING means we SAW a great preformance of graphics engineers, special effects guys, stunt doubles, film editors....oh the list goes on and on.  But, SEEING is definately NOT BELIEVING anymore.

My grandfather, born in 1919 had a particularly difficult time with television.  My grandmother on the other hand, was quite the cinematic efficianado.  She worked at a theater in the 1940's and was abreast on all the ins and outs of HOLLYWOOD.  After 10 *yes, TEN* children, and too many to mention grandchildren....grandpa was slowing down.  Grandmother would occasionaly talk him into watching a movie with her.  I recall sitting on the couch in their home and my grandmother instructing me to put a movie in the new Video Tape Machine.  I did.  The movie began much like any other from the 40's.  And my grandfather looked at his wife and said..."I thought he died."  She said..."who?" 
~"That guy. Right there.  He's the cowboy...don't you remember, he got shot."
~"That was a different movie honey"
~"What do you mean?"
~"I mean it was a different movie."
~"What does that matter, I saw him die!"

How serious he was, I don't know.  My grandfather was notorious for teasing his bride.  However, it makes my point.

Seeing is sometimes NOT at all what is actually going on.
Life, anymore, has become an optical illusion to many of us.
We are all so busy making sure that others DON'T see what is going on behind the scenes so that the illusion can be executed perfectly that we fail to SEE our audience. 
Maybe the audience does not WANT a show.  Maybe they are looking for the one person that will let them know, 'you are not alone in this.'
Quite possibly, they are wanting the opportunity to read a GRAND biography, not a work of fictious CRAP!
Would you believe me if I said, I would rather know the terribly hateful, angry, hurting, sad, complaining, full of sin person you REALLY are, rather than the mask you introduce me to. 

Loving someone that is REAL, is easy.  Being someone that is REAL is the challenge.

Don't believe what you see with your eyes.....

Try to really look beyond what we see.....

Try to BE more than what you've let us see.....I'm certain, fact is much better than fiction.