Notes from the Prairie: Short Bonus “I Wonder”
Second Thoughts
On a whim last Saturday I took a risk, starting a post with my bed-head picture and ending with a formal one. Many readers said they were amused, and used phrases such as “best laugh of the day” and “I’m still grinning.” Others called the post courageous. “A brave woman” said one.
Some, especially readers with fine hair, identified with me. One said it made her feel better about her own hair that morning. Another claimed to be my sister. One woman, ten years older than me, said wisely, “I think most every person has a variation of that problem in the morning.”
A few people surprised me by using terms like “gutsy vulnerability” and “delightful authenticity.” Those descriptors far surpassed the ones I feared but didn’t receive, such as “ugly,” “horrid,” “shameless,” or “repulsive.”
One reader offered to pay me to show up at the local Hy-Vee with my bed head. However, she wasn’t willing to pay me enough to do that. She offered $50. I countered with $1 million, and our chat ended abruptly.
A few were complimentary about the second photo.
Then came an in-person conversation that surprised me.
“I laughed a lot at your bed-head photo this morning,” said an acquaintance. “I showed it to my daughter and she said, ‘That’s a spicy meatball!'”
I had no idea what that meant and didn’t dare to ask. Apparently, though, it was a special and often-used family term.
We chuckled together, and I responded. “I couldn’t have posted it without adding the other photo at the end.”
She responded, “But if I didn’t know you and had to choose which of those two I would rather spend time with, it would be the first one.”
I wondered about her comment a couple of times in the coming days. Is that second photo too formal? Does that woman look unapproachable?
I didn’t know.
Who has the gift to see themselves as others see them? Not I.
This morning that book, with that formal photo, went live on Amazon.*
I studied the back cover. Yup. Perhaps it is a little too formal. A little short on vulnerability and authenticity.
But never, not even for a million dollars, will I replace it with the bed-head photo.
Happy Thursday!
*A World in a Grain of Sand: Lively Little Stories of Household Stuff. Available from me (carolvk13@gmail.com) or from Amazon here.
Would you like to try a free book sample? Send your email address to me at carolvk13@gmail.com and receive a complimentary PDF of the opening chapters.
