Two Faces

I ran across a blog of someone I've met in person and my brain is having a bit of a hard time with it. See, her blog presents a completely different person than the one I met. My tired brain is trying to mesh the two perceptions together and it just doesn't fit. I met this girl at one of the photo group meetings we no longer go to. She's a white chick with dreadlocks, which I was fascinated with at the time, so after the meeting during the mingle/network session I went to chat about hair. She struck me as not overly friendly; even on a subject she was obviously into (the locks) she didn't light up and get all conversational. I asked if I could touch one - one of the discussions Honey and I had was what those things would feel like in bed next to him if I got them - and her response was to ask me if my hands were clean. She gave off this vibe that she thought she was better than everyone else and I was pretty sure we wouldn't be friends.

Now, all that being said....I visited her blog yesterday. She and her hubby have taken the plunge many of us talk about but can't quite pull off for one reason or another: they've given up their house and become full time RV'ers traveling the country. Her blog is inspiring, full of hippie chick stuff, green living stuff, 'unschooling', and nice photos of their adventures. She comes across as a warm, open person, a gentle spirit trying to enrich the lives of her family, and make the world a better place. Quite a bit different from the person I met.

So, the part of me that still insists people are good says maybe this lifestyle change has changed her. What would I be like if my days were filled with a relaxed unending roadtrip? Another opinion that was voiced was that she's an extremist (mostly of the environmental sort), that her presumed feeling of superiority applies to anyone who doesn't think the way she does, and that this persona she's presenting is to curry favor with the blogging community (she has some 200 followers). I don't know about all that. I just know she's living one of my dreams, the one that's gonna be on the back burner for awhile, making room for something else. I haven't got a big house to sell to fund my expedition; I also haven't got family across the country to support me. In the same breath, I don't grudge that she did/does.

I'm just gonna go with the positive in that her blog appears (from a brief glance) to be a rich resource for lowering one's impact on the planet, dashing bravely into the world, and living life to it's fullest. It goes nicely with the quote I got in a Dove chocolate candy last night: What would you attempt if you knew you would not fail?

2 comments:

ADVERSE! said...

what would i do if i knew i wouldnt fail....do more ivf cycles,be a foster carer...move to oz.....become a drug baroness/ j/k.... apart from that isnt it starnge how folk give off different vibes in different enviroments, i havent yet checked out her blog....yet, i get the feeling or preconcieved idea that it will irritate me somewhat, i must say, your very diplomatic about her laughs out loud, it almost sounds like shes an actual SNOB! lol i love my anoymus blog!!! have far less followers but the ones i do have at least are of the genuine kind!

MonkeyOne said...

I can't really tell who she is. Her big thing is authenticity, that's what her bio says. I could make up all kinds of reasons/excuses for the differences I saw (and I guess I did for the post), but I'm trying to pay more attention to how I feel/what my gut tells me.