Have you noticed that what you don’t see and haven’t seen, others see or have seen? You understand that question easily when I rephrase it: Have you noticed that what you see in others, they, themselves, cannot see? Well, that is, they can’t see what is obvious to you in the present moment. Isn’t that inability to see what is obvious in oneself the reason behind personal advice?
Of course, given the perspective of personal history, many people come to see what was once obvious only to others. From the perspective of our future, we, the presently blind, look back with visual acuity to see what others now see.
You realize, don’t you, that objective self-observation is difficult because the Egos of self-observers wear veils? All Egos dress in burkas. All wear hoodies. All, as we commonly say, wear masks. I suppose the Ego is, itself, a mask, a burka, a hoodie. The covering has one intended and one unintended effect. We intentionally hide from others that which we do not want them to see while presenting them with that which we want them to see. Unintentionally, we mask from ourselves what others do see in us; we wear cloaks of self-deceit.
Is it possible that missing what is obvious to others is a defining human characteristic? Is the reason we don’t take advice readily related to our prideful inability to see the need for advice?
The practical advice of “standing outside oneself” might be difficult to follow because in looking back, we see only the burka, the mask, the hoodie. We dress the Ego for others to see, and we dress the Ego for what we want to see in the mirror.
As both Shakespeare and Twain write, clothing not only makes the man, it also makes others “come runnin’/Just as fast as they can.” That’s a blend of what the two said coupled with the wisdom of ZZ Top. White suited Mark Twain said, “Clothing makes a man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” Shakespeare wrote, “Apparel oft proclaims the man.” ZZ Top combined them in “Sharp Dressed Man.” All Egos aspire to be some version of a “Sharp Dressed Man” because “They come runnin’ just as fast as they can/’Cause every girl crazy ‘bout a sharp-dressed man.” Not just girls, by the way. All of us. “Naked people have little or no influence on society.”
And yet, isn’t such nudity what we constantly proclaim under the words integrity and honesty? Isn’t such nudity the basis for trust? Not to get too rock-n-rolly here, but Ringo Starr noted that with regard to trust, “It don’t come easy.” It’s difficult for many to trust because everyone knows that the veil, the burka, the hoodie, the sharp fashion, all conceal what lies beneath the apparent, beneath the apparel of the masked Ego. Yet, in spite of common knowledge that Egos wear masks and are masks, so many of us trust on the basis of their appearance.
There’s another consequence of our seeming necessity to clothe the inner person. Normally clean-shaven drummer Frank Beard and his two bearded guitarists Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill sing, “Clean shirt, new shoes/And I don’t know where I am goin’ to.” Dressed for others to see, we wend our way through much of our lives without purpose beyond fashionable living, that is, we live public lives with our eyes focused on how we appear—to both others and to ourselves. I’ll reiterate: Is it possible that missing what is obvious to others is a defining human characteristic?
If you see the official video of “Sharp Dressed Man” made in the 1980s, you’ll probably note from the perspective of the 2020s that it’s rather kitschy. * What would you expect? From the perspective of our present selves, the appearance of our past Egos always seems a bit kitschy. Don’t believe me? Take out those old photos and videos of you. Were you as “sharp-dressed” as you then thought you were? We're not talking clothing here.
Of course, given the perspective of personal history, many people come to see what was once obvious only to others. From the perspective of our future, we, the presently blind, look back with visual acuity to see what others now see.
You realize, don’t you, that objective self-observation is difficult because the Egos of self-observers wear veils? All Egos dress in burkas. All wear hoodies. All, as we commonly say, wear masks. I suppose the Ego is, itself, a mask, a burka, a hoodie. The covering has one intended and one unintended effect. We intentionally hide from others that which we do not want them to see while presenting them with that which we want them to see. Unintentionally, we mask from ourselves what others do see in us; we wear cloaks of self-deceit.
Is it possible that missing what is obvious to others is a defining human characteristic? Is the reason we don’t take advice readily related to our prideful inability to see the need for advice?
The practical advice of “standing outside oneself” might be difficult to follow because in looking back, we see only the burka, the mask, the hoodie. We dress the Ego for others to see, and we dress the Ego for what we want to see in the mirror.
As both Shakespeare and Twain write, clothing not only makes the man, it also makes others “come runnin’/Just as fast as they can.” That’s a blend of what the two said coupled with the wisdom of ZZ Top. White suited Mark Twain said, “Clothing makes a man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” Shakespeare wrote, “Apparel oft proclaims the man.” ZZ Top combined them in “Sharp Dressed Man.” All Egos aspire to be some version of a “Sharp Dressed Man” because “They come runnin’ just as fast as they can/’Cause every girl crazy ‘bout a sharp-dressed man.” Not just girls, by the way. All of us. “Naked people have little or no influence on society.”
And yet, isn’t such nudity what we constantly proclaim under the words integrity and honesty? Isn’t such nudity the basis for trust? Not to get too rock-n-rolly here, but Ringo Starr noted that with regard to trust, “It don’t come easy.” It’s difficult for many to trust because everyone knows that the veil, the burka, the hoodie, the sharp fashion, all conceal what lies beneath the apparent, beneath the apparel of the masked Ego. Yet, in spite of common knowledge that Egos wear masks and are masks, so many of us trust on the basis of their appearance.
There’s another consequence of our seeming necessity to clothe the inner person. Normally clean-shaven drummer Frank Beard and his two bearded guitarists Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill sing, “Clean shirt, new shoes/And I don’t know where I am goin’ to.” Dressed for others to see, we wend our way through much of our lives without purpose beyond fashionable living, that is, we live public lives with our eyes focused on how we appear—to both others and to ourselves. I’ll reiterate: Is it possible that missing what is obvious to others is a defining human characteristic?
If you see the official video of “Sharp Dressed Man” made in the 1980s, you’ll probably note from the perspective of the 2020s that it’s rather kitschy. * What would you expect? From the perspective of our present selves, the appearance of our past Egos always seems a bit kitschy. Don’t believe me? Take out those old photos and videos of you. Were you as “sharp-dressed” as you then thought you were? We're not talking clothing here.
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