Intensity

Some people burn brightly. These people are exceptional, rare but that's part of being exceptional isn't it. There isn't a better phrase for this that I've found. Some people burn bright. They can LOVE. They are capible of pure PASSION. For the longest time I just sorta figured everyone had this capiblity. I mean I knew not everyone loved big... I knew that passion was limited to things people felt passionate about and that meant with some people I never saw it. I really did think though that everyone could do this.

Well, guess what? Not everyone can do this. Apparently some people simply are not capible of this big love. Indeed, some people are not even capible of passion in this life. I've listened to stories of people unwilling to engage their lives even when it was spoon fed to them. And I have come to the realization that burning brightly is something that one is borth with innately or not. Now, it requires developement. You don't just burn brightly like magic. You have to grow, you have to step into this. But not everyone can do this and that to me is sad. I cannot imagine a life with out PASSION. I cannot imagine having never LOVED.

Does living with passion burn you out sometimes? Yeah, sure but I think it's a fair price to pay. Does really loving leave you torn tattered and scared? Yep, but to have loved and loved well. There is nothing in the world like being able to say that.

I don't know how to tell you how to recognize people with this quality other than to say they burn a bit brighter. They resonate with something core in me that has this golden glowing tonality to it. They are ordinary magic. And often, often they are the beautifully broken among us. Because it takes pain and damage I suppose to be capible of such feats of human nature. And that's the rub, to have passion like that you have to have had so little that your truly impassioned about what you do have now. To love like that you need to have experianced pain, deep pain or you never understand what it is exactly that love must stand in defiance of.

I don't know how to tell you how to figure out if you burn bright... but really it doesn't matter. If you are... Grow it, nurture it. The world needs more people like this. And to those that know someone like this... Tell them because they might not know that they have this quality. And hearing it might just help them burn a little birhgter.

Well groomed

There is a separation between someone who is well groomed and someone who has manners.

Manners are a simple thing. It's about please and thank you. It's covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze. It's holding the door for others, respecting your elders and not using colorful language in public settings.

Most people have manners to one degree or another. Now how much manners they have can be up for debate. Very few people however are well groomed.

Grooming is something that has gone to the wayside in this world. Grooming shows in social situation. It's about being able to work a room. It's about having social grace. It's knowing place settings as if it were intuitive. It's knowing how to give a toast and what type is most appropriate. It is the ability to put others at ease, to be well liked. It is knowing a little about wine, enough to pass for choosing it. It's knowing how to address people and knowing who to introduce people to and who to wait for introductions with.

I'd like to believe I was well groomed growing up. I would like to believe that this shows in social situations. I can assuredly tell you people in my life I see as well groomed. I know that I would like to see more of this, to see the world become a more cordial place. I would love to see a return to social graces and etiquette. I'm not saying that we shouldn't tweak these things to make them a little bit more even keeled but I like the formality of it all.