The silhouetted face

Sometimes light, catches just the very edges of the subject, showing but the superficial outline of it. It leaves our brain to extrapolate what is hidden in the contrasted darkness of the areas obscured from view. Some people want to be seen as a silhouette and fear that if we see the darkened areas for what they really are the truth will not be to the viewers liking, but in the dark the viewer is left with only the basic anatomical sense of what lays there. Like the proverbial ostrich with its head stuck in the sand our fear drives us to believe what we or they cannot see will not hurt us. Looking in the mirror may be one of the truly difficult things to do, in the stark light we need to actually look and say “I see myself”.

The face of revolution

 

We used to able to pick out the face of revolution, from the 60’s activist to the “Che “ beret wearing guerrilla. But now it is much more difficult, the “occupy” or counter culture revolutionist looks like you or me; all ages, all genders, there is no uniform anymore and no working occupation associated with expressing ones anger or revolt ion, at events or situations that have been so intolerable even grandma’s are willing to risk arrest. You can do it part-time, on –call, so finally everyone can participate! Has it become so common that it is regarded as fashionable to have a cause? Have we become so desensitized to the coverage of another mob protesting against another institution, that the message is lost? Sometimes I fear, what could be next for groups to garner attention, to jump onto the front pages. I miss the romantic vision of the urban guerrilla, who is so easily identifiable and makes a great T-shirt logo.

 

The strangers face

The strangers face

 

How we quickly judge intent and danger in the face of strangers, but it’s not just the fact that the face is strange it also has to do with the setting we find ourselves in. To some extent I think media and mainstream movies have us formulating personality based on first glances, the cowboy dressed in black, the mug-shot disheveledness  of the perpetrator. So that’s our modern man made so called instinct. But if we change the way we see something , what we see changes, commercials do this all the time changing the music , setting, the whole feel of the encounter to disarm our natural feeling to mistrust, to judge. Allowing them to, interject a suggestion or action. So the question I pose is … if I change the music, setting and context in my mind will I be so quick to judge when the strangers present themselves to me?

 

The cute face

 

 

The cute face

For some reason we all have a strange need to make people laugh, so we crack a funny grin or make an odd face. It’s inherent in us and we don’t even know it, in our childlike ignorance our instinct tells us to test the other person to see if they are a threat. When we don’t receive the required smile or laugh all our shields go up… you know the line” I disarmed them with a smile”. The returned smile lets us know we are among allies, in some cultures the display of anger is so feared as to have the majority so worried it would rather cut the cancerous person away than to live with their unpredictable anger. So unless you want to be ostracised you need to laugh and smile in the most extreme moments , in our north American culture that would be perceived as extremely odd, therefore dangerous. So not all cute smiles are harmless and not all harmless smiles are cute…..

The stoic face

The stoic face

 

Some people have the uncanny ability to accept all that happens to them as if it was divine will or the natural course of things, while other leave no doubt as to the base feelings they are experiencing. Is the universe unfolding as it was meant too ? Or is it self control ! Are these people the seething  volcanoes waiting to erupt ? On closer observation I see a distancing in their eyes, an ability to go to a place in their mind where they have control of the situation like in a dream. I think it allows the mind to deal with crisis in a safe experimental state, evaluating all scenarios and exits and sometimes coming to the conclusion … that’s the way it is and it’s out of my control. Somehow it seems like I’m describing escapism , the neutral  stare and placid look of discouraging acceptance.

I think what we really see is courage…

The peaceful face

The peaceful face

 

There is something about looking into the face of a sleeping child that tells us all is right in the world no matter how cynical we are once we turn away. We see the most vulnerable  individual with the ability to sleep calmly in the hectic busy atmosphere we know too well can be cruel and dangerous. But this child has no knowledge or context to go by, truly ignorance must be bliss. So we gaze upon them and their bliss becomes our understanding, that no matter our own fear and cynicism we have the ability to feel bliss by turning the negativity of our surroundings “ off “ if just for a moment. I am not a meditator  but maybe I should learn , because maybe if I practice, that feeling will stay with me longer or when I need it most…. Perhaps that’s the gift and lesson our infants are giving us.

The proud face

This face shows glimpses of honour, self respect and dignity. It’s hard to fake this look and it comes from somewhere deep inside of us and it is connect to happiness; happiness in ourselves, pride in our accomplishments, not material accomplishments but personal and inner self respect. I have seen in children and in seniors, I’ve seen it appear and fade, the easy look in their eyes and the knowing smile on their lips let’s us know they have a secret that they don’t need to share. You don’t need to go far to see it, but the hardest place to see it is in the mirror.