{"id":2850,"date":"2015-01-30T23:49:29","date_gmt":"2015-01-31T04:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/?p=2850"},"modified":"2015-01-30T23:50:58","modified_gmt":"2015-01-31T04:50:58","slug":"smile-scary-lady","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/?p=2850","title":{"rendered":"Smile, Scary Lady."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"croco\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Do you ever feel like you have become the Scary Clown?\u00a0\u00a0 You know…. …. THE Scary Clown.<\/p>\n

Tonight, I gave some Photoshop Demonstrations at the Preble County Art Association.\u00a0 It was a great turnout for the Open House.\u00a0 There were a couple of us doing demonstrations.<\/p>\n

But, toward the beginning of the evening, and near the end, it got a little slow.\u00a0\u00a0 So I mingled about the classroom area of the Center for a bit.<\/p>\n

Early in the night, there were four girls painting at a table nearby.\u00a0 One was fashioning a rabbit on her little cardboard canvas.\u00a0 To which I said… “I’ve never met a rabbit I didn’t like.”\u00a0 And the little girl laughed and laughed.\u00a0\u00a0 But a moment later, she was finding her mother, and scrunching up her face, and looking my way.<\/p>\n

Oh my gawd.\u00a0 I’ve become the Scary Clown.<\/p>\n

Late in the night, a little boy sat at another table with his Mom.\u00a0 He was munching down a plateful of baby carrots.\u00a0 To which I said… “When I was your age, I loved carrots.\u00a0 I ate more carrots than Bugs Bunny.\u00a0 I still love carrots.\u00a0 Yep.\u00a0 Carrots. Cabbage.\u00a0 And Cauliflower.\u00a0 Hey… they all start with ‘C’!\u00a0 My middle name starts with C.”<\/p>\n

The little boy smiled at me and nodded.\u00a0 THEN…. a couple of minutes later…\u00a0 I saw him\u00a0 scrunching up his face, looking my way, and holding on to his Mom’s arm.<\/p>\n

Again… I fear… I have become the Scary Clown.
\nAm I now the guy in the Shriner’s Hat?
\nOr have I become Aunt Eleanor, who pinches the holy-crap out of your cheek when you see her?<\/p>\n

Perceptions.\u00a0 How we perceive ourselves, and how other’s perceive us… are two entirely different things.\u00a0\u00a0 And it changes with every person we encounter.\u00a0 When I see myself… I always have this picture of Might Mouse in my head.\u00a0 (Okay, not really… but I liked the way that little mouse dressed).<\/p>\n

But when others meet us, or know us…. what do they see?\u00a0 The Scary Clown?\u00a0 Or some sweet old funny lady?\u00a0 Who knows.<\/p>\n

The thing I wonder is….. should we care?\u00a0 I think some people don’t give a Rat’s Booty about what other’s think.\u00a0 And then there are those who are extremely concerned about other’s perceptions.\u00a0 I know I tend to put way too much weight into what people think of me.\u00a0 Somewhere in there… I bet there is a healthy balance.\u00a0 The trick is finding it.<\/p>\n

If we stop for just a few little moments….\u00a0\u00a0 and take the time to contemplate ourselves and our lives…. we can see one thing is apparent.\u00a0\u00a0 It is not difficult to recognize that “familiar” inner feeling…. that we are different from anybody else.\u00a0 We are individuals.\u00a0 Each our own.<\/p>\n

You are.\u00a0 I am.\u00a0 Individuals.\u00a0 And somewhere in there is the balance of knowing this is okay… and not worrying so much about what other’s may regard.<\/p>\n

But I can’t help but wonder.
\nAre they thinking…. “Dang, that is a cool reptile.”
\nOr…. “See you later alligator.”
\nOr maybe… “Don’t EVER smile at a crocodile.”<\/p>\n

I guess all I can do… is smile back.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual.<\/span> —\u00a0<\/em> Albert Einstein<\/strong><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you ever feel like you have become the Scary Clown?\u00a0\u00a0 You know…. …. THE Scary Clown. Tonight, I gave some Photoshop Demonstrations at the Preble County Art Association.\u00a0 It was a great turnout for the Open House.\u00a0 There were a couple of us doing demonstrations. But, toward the beginning of the evening, and near […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nowyouseeit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2850"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2856,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2850\/revisions\/2856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}