INTROSPECTION

I'm pretty sure all of my friends are of the introspective type, but I hadn't recently given that word much thought.  Or wondered if I "was" or not.  I think that most people can spend about a minute and a half with me and realize that woe she's got shit goin' on.

So, when a friend/co-worker/person-I-respect suggested to me yesterday that I WAS one of those "introspective" people, I, of course went way off and started to think about it.  Then I remembered these pictures Daughter sent me a couple of weeks ago, and they instantly took on a new meaning to me.

Daughter, like me, always has her camera with her.  Our house is filled with her photographs.  She has a good eye.

Well, let me correct here, she always has her camera with her EXCEPT when I say oh I'm so glad you had your camera and got a picture of that.  On those occasions she says oh mom I don't know why but I didn't have my camera with me.

BUT, she takes some amazing pictures of life wherever she has traveled.  I was able to live for 6 months in Barcelona, ONLY by her pictures.  There were 1,437 of them, and I felt like I had taken the trip.

These pictures are just of Austin, of people.  Things happening.  People going through their own process of dealing with their daily lives.

One thing both Husband and I are proud we were able to give to Son and Daughter is the experience of having Austin as a home base.  Husband and I grew up in a small, central Texas town.  We both knew, even at 19, that we didn't want that for the rest of our lives. We left.  Austin has been home since.

So, I liked these pictures because they represented "introspection" in the person behind the camera, and in me looking at them.  The pictures are of people doing normal things, gentle things.  Not pictures of shoes in a store window, or someone in a fight outside a bar.  Just life in a city where you don't have to worry about what or who you are.  You can go out and just BE.

Here's Urban Dictionary's definition of "Introspection".  (I love Urban Dictionary!)

"the process of looking into all or many facets of ones self at the same time or over a short period of time. Much like looking at a disco-ball up close."

AND, here's a quote I wrote down recently, although I didn't write down where it came from.  Hum, not like me!  But I like the quote......
"I haven't the slightest idea how to change people, but still I keep a long list of prospective candidates, just in case I should figure it out."


Oh, and here's another sort of related quote, so I can end this on a humorous note......
"If you're looking for sympathy, you'll find it between shit and syphilis in the dictionary." (from Bill Maher)