Soul Toupees - cont'd
The soul toupee is that thing we are most deeply embarrassed by and like to think we have cunningly concealed from the world, but which is, in fact, pitifully obvious to everybody who knows us."
I know what my soul toupee is.
If I'm being completely honest, I carry around two soul toupees which pretty much guarantees I'll have a (mentally/emotionally) hunched back in my golden years, but I'm not in the mood to discuss them.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be my soul toupees!
I mentioned earlier that good writers know about soul toupees & can create memorable characters from them.
Take this line from Carol Shields' Larry's Party:
"He remembered he'd had orange swim trunks back in high school, MacDonald Secondary, probably about two sizes too big, since he was always worrying at that time in his life about his bulge showing..."
And then there's Alice Munro, sigh...she's soooo good. She can internalize, externalize, retwist & strip even a hopeful soul toupee:
"When Rose in The Beggar Maid brings her fiancee home to meet her father and stepfather, she discovers with a sinking heart a new centrepiece, "especially for the occasion. A plastic swan, lime green in colour, with slits in the wings, in which were stuck folded, colored paper napkins." The myriad inequalities between Rose and her fiancee – in sex, wealth, education, speech and manners – and in class, a thing we pretend not to understand in North America – inheres in that napkin holder."
- the quote above is by Nell Freudenberger's article in The Guardian called "My hero: Alice Munro by Nell Freudenberger."
Another thing Krieder said in an interview that stuck a chord with me was that he'd observed how soul toupees also add to the appeal of an all-knowing and all-loving God.
It seems to make sense that if we're all walking around trying to hide something from everyone else, and hating that thing about ourselves, God would be a huge draw. I wonder though....
In this age when there are endless marketing schemes that aim to make us hyper-aware of our deficiencies, you'd think we'd be flocking to churches, mosques and synagogues.
How many of us hide our deepest beliefs, even in God, with a secret soul toupee?
Okay, I'll hit the pause button on waxing philosophical.
Bottom line:
I love soul toupees. I think about them at every party, in every interaction.
I even came up with a game I play with my friend Heather called Soul Toupee.
What's your soul toupee?
Or, if you're a writer, what's your favourite character soul toupee??
I'd love to hear them!
Hope you're having a great weekend.
Now, I'm off to a party...Guess what I'll be doing??
Cheers,
TartanFrog (aka Dina)
I know what my soul toupee is.
If I'm being completely honest, I carry around two soul toupees which pretty much guarantees I'll have a (mentally/emotionally) hunched back in my golden years, but I'm not in the mood to discuss them.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be my soul toupees!
I mentioned earlier that good writers know about soul toupees & can create memorable characters from them.
Take this line from Carol Shields' Larry's Party:
"He remembered he'd had orange swim trunks back in high school, MacDonald Secondary, probably about two sizes too big, since he was always worrying at that time in his life about his bulge showing..."
And then there's Alice Munro, sigh...she's soooo good. She can internalize, externalize, retwist & strip even a hopeful soul toupee:
"When Rose in The Beggar Maid brings her fiancee home to meet her father and stepfather, she discovers with a sinking heart a new centrepiece, "especially for the occasion. A plastic swan, lime green in colour, with slits in the wings, in which were stuck folded, colored paper napkins." The myriad inequalities between Rose and her fiancee – in sex, wealth, education, speech and manners – and in class, a thing we pretend not to understand in North America – inheres in that napkin holder."
- the quote above is by Nell Freudenberger's article in The Guardian called "My hero: Alice Munro by Nell Freudenberger."
Another thing Krieder said in an interview that stuck a chord with me was that he'd observed how soul toupees also add to the appeal of an all-knowing and all-loving God.
It seems to make sense that if we're all walking around trying to hide something from everyone else, and hating that thing about ourselves, God would be a huge draw. I wonder though....
In this age when there are endless marketing schemes that aim to make us hyper-aware of our deficiencies, you'd think we'd be flocking to churches, mosques and synagogues.
How many of us hide our deepest beliefs, even in God, with a secret soul toupee?
Okay, I'll hit the pause button on waxing philosophical.
Bottom line:
I love soul toupees. I think about them at every party, in every interaction.
I even came up with a game I play with my friend Heather called Soul Toupee.
What's your soul toupee?
Or, if you're a writer, what's your favourite character soul toupee??
I'd love to hear them!
Hope you're having a great weekend.
Now, I'm off to a party...Guess what I'll be doing??
Cheers,
TartanFrog (aka Dina)