Wednesday, October 1, 2008

A New Look

I think I must have tried on and discarded about a dozen outfits today before it dawned on me that what I really wanted was a new face.

Not that there's anything in particular wrong with the old one. I'm not crazy about the slightly crooked nose, or the chip in the front tooth, or the lines that life has etched around the eyes and mouth, or the softening around the jaw... But it's a face I've lived with all my life, and I'm rather fond of it.

Sometimes, though, I think it would be nice to not be me for a little while. Sometimes I think it might be good if I could take a different face out of the closet, and try it on for size. I wonder what it would be like to look in the mirror from someone else's eyes?

Would all of the inside stuff stay the same, or would the packaging somehow alter the contents? Would I like being someone other than me, or would I miss me? Would I try on a dozen new faces, like I do my clothes, and end up standing discontentedly in front of the closet with eyes and ears and noses scattered among the rejected shoes?

I found a jacket hiding on a hanger that I don't wear very often, and put it on this morning. It goes pretty well with my same old face.

2 comments:

Phil said...

I was reminded of a poem I read a long time ago by Yeats:

FOR ANNE GREGORY

'NEVER shall a young man,
Thrown into despair
By those great honey-coloured
Ramparts at your ear,
Love you for yourself alone
And not your yellow hair.'

'But I can get a hair-dye
And set such colour there,
Brown, or black, or carrot,
That young men in despair
May love me for myself alone
And not my yellow hair.'

'I heard an old religious man
But yesternight declare
That he had found a text to prove
That only God, my dear,
Could love you for yourself alone
And not your yellow hair.'

Not that it has a whole lot to do with your post...but part of what endears us to people is what we look like. I also wonder if I would feel different, or be treated differently if I changed my looks. I think so, absolutely. I've been watching a series, "The Human Face" with John Cleese where he demonstrates without a doubt that even the way you use your features has a huge impact on other people.

Antonia said...

I don't mind my face but I love the idea of changing things up.
If I could snap on some perky boobs I would be very happy :)