self worth by ~ckl89 on deviantART
should i choose
to enter
the marketplace of life
bereft of currency
it would in essence mean
that anything i left with-
was stolen….
if you are here looking for poetry, it is currently being posted on my creative blog, just paisley....
37 Responses to “theif”Leave a Reply |
July 5th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Jodi, very interesting post. As the father of a sixteen year old daughter who dealt with the evils of anorexia a couple of a years back, I can painfully relate to the misconception of self.
July 5th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I was thinking about our currency the other day as I walked through the crowds during Canada Day.
What really struck me was how everyone was broadcasting their currency..
midlifers wearing expensive brands oldtimers still wearing knee high black socks with shorts!
But the group that really stood out were the young Turks..they don’t have a house in the burbs and a career..they have their body..and some of them have pumped up to say F*ck You I don’t have any money but I could snap your neck like a wishbone and your wife would do things for me that you could only dream of…their eyes seem so angry..so defensive.
It was weird but I noticed that everybody was measuring up everybody else..you can see the gears clicking as they coalate individuals and quickly assess their currency:
my peepsc..freak..slut..dork..hippy..SCHWING..mortgage slave..cougar…midlife crisis..druggie..student..drunk..wannabe gangsta..WOW…loser..boyscout..etc.
I try to temper my initial reactions with the knowledge that I AM NOT what I look like..not one bit…so it is safe to assume that making assumptions is tricky business…except for the young Turk who is staring me down…maintain eye contact do not look like a prey item..stick out chest a little more..is that it..crap!
July 5th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
“it would in essence mean
that anything i left with-
was stolen…”
profound..I just have got one word for this
July 5th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Powerful photo! Interesting concept! What if it were gifted?
Hugs Giggles
July 6th, 2008 at 3:12 am
This is so powerful. In this sense, isn’t what we’ve stolen the only thing that’s really ours?
July 6th, 2008 at 4:55 am
paisley,
However you’ve come by your currency, it was well earned I think. Oh, and you have more currency than most!! But many of us have a smidgeon or more of self doubt, mainly because we play up our failures in our mind and ignore the pluses.
rel
July 6th, 2008 at 5:20 am
Mmmm, I don’t fully understand this, are you talking of a reentry now? Or of your entry at birth, and bereft of currency? It certainly hits hard, regardless. This issue of how women perceive themselves and are perceived is a biggy for me…..why must we be held to so much stricter standards than men? Very thoughtprovoking post.
July 6th, 2008 at 5:39 am
oh no i hope you don’t disappear for a bit. i’ll miss you. the marketplace of life — very interesting concept.
July 6th, 2008 at 5:58 am
i like this, amazing photo
July 6th, 2008 at 6:14 am
please tell us how your weekend went.
I’ve been thinking about your re-entry
and sending positive thoughts. ♥
July 6th, 2008 at 6:34 am
you will answer the question
obviously the present is not working
July 6th, 2008 at 6:38 am
What an interesting thought … beautiful in many ways … though very sad
July 6th, 2008 at 6:42 am
I feel “no currency” is the negative (and untrue!) reflection…. possibly of “creative” or “resourceful”. Yes, what you may bring to the market may not be the standard, recognised currency that everyone knows how to value. But it may nevertheless have high barter value for those with the sense to recognise it!
July 6th, 2008 at 8:07 am
This is a very interesting post, so few words but so powerful!
July 6th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Stealing can be good!
“stealing away into the night
won’t get you any higher
we’ll never sleep
god knows we’ll try
the hospital is closed
and how long will it last
before we go insane?
we circle your uncle’s parking lot
just to se how many
times that we can before we get caught
you guessed on twenty
and how long will you stare
before i look away?
i don’t wanna go
begged them to stay they’re on holiday
just close the door
you can watch final four
and just fall away
sailing away just isn’t right
just because you’re angry
if you go
i think i might
lose it all together
and how long will we last
before we go insane?
i don’t wanna”
Rilo Kiley
July 6th, 2008 at 9:03 am
very good poem and amazing photograph, my mind shoots back and
forth between these ideas about myself all too often.
July 6th, 2008 at 9:20 am
The picture alone speaks a thousand words, but your handful of words bring your message home so powerfully.
July 6th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Not stolen just buried Jodi! That picture is not a b & w, it’s really more of a grey area. Most of us fall in the middle. I’m not fat but I have a gut, I’m not beautiful but I’m not ugly, I’m not intelligent but I do OK, perfection is an illusion and confidence can be built. OK, I’m an annoying glass half full realist.
July 6th, 2008 at 10:04 am
we are our worst critics…the hard part is accepting who you are..each of us is unique in our own way..but self doubt is always there…just a little glimmer in some but still there..in others it occupies our lives…it takes some work and blood sweat and tears but if you can accept yourself and who you are..life is peaceful..
July 6th, 2008 at 10:46 am
What about the possibility that what you leave with was given freely. …or the result of a merging of essences - I’m talking platonically - where all involved walk away with more than they brought.
July 6th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Hi paisley:
This made me think. I entered this world with nothing and I will leave with nothing, so I guess I steal things along the way. Very nice.
July 6th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
none of us are as perfect as we want to be or as imperfect as we see ourselves and sometimes it works in reverse
The pictures and words incredible; the poem could be read so many ways. You never fail to amaze–as a writer and a friend
July 6th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Ok now lets get to the important stuff ..ya got any beer in the fridge?
July 6th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Okay, I just want to know how you do that. And does this piece of poetry that everything I possess or have possessed is stolen…totally bereft of currency, i.e. talent, experience, competency?
b
July 6th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Let me try that again please. Okay, I just want to know how you do that??? And does this piece of poetry MEAN that everything I possess or have possessed is stolen…am I or have I always been totally bereft of currency, i.e. talent, experience, competency?
b
July 6th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
whoa. I have a tendency to see myself in the upside down images.
July 6th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
wow. that’s powerful. perfection is something many us strive for but never really exists…
July 7th, 2008 at 5:15 am
Hi Jodi
Very profound… we come into this world and acquire and give as we go on with our lives. Somehow, I would like to think that I could leave behind a footprint of my existence so it wasn’t for not.
~JD
July 7th, 2008 at 5:30 am
If only we could all see ourselves the way others do, we would be surprised how different we are from the way we view ourselves. Our currency would be much more valuable than we realise.
July 7th, 2008 at 6:08 am
Very powerful visual.
Hope to see this Friday for the next Rockin’ Chair Writers prompt.
July 7th, 2008 at 6:40 am
Words and photo, incredibly powerful!
July 7th, 2008 at 8:00 am
The poem has hit me hard. Makes me think about the job I do only because I need a check.
July 7th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Interesting thought. I had to read it a few times for it to sink in good. I still don’t know if it would mean that, though. Good match with the picture.
July 8th, 2008 at 2:57 am
There are as many perceptions of self as there are people. The transition in the photo is marvellous, but I suspect the title of the top half should be ‘optimism’, and the bottom, ‘pessimism’.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:17 am
AWESOME. I friggin love it.
July 10th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
I really liked this, mostly as it reminds me that everyone struggles with self-image and who/how we see ourselves is often not how others perceive us to be.
July 11th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
everything is so a**backwards… it seems as if the more we desire to hold onto something it is soon changed and gone regardless…