Static People
I am amazed by static people. No, there's not people that will make your hand spark when you touch them, I'm talking about a different kind of static.
I'm talking about people who are the same no matter who they are around. I've only met a few of these people in my life.
Think about it: Most people compartmentalize their life to a pretty good extent. I've found that I, more than almost anyone I know, do this. The idea is that you are a different person around different people. Do you talk the same way to your pastor as you do to your old friends? Even within your circle of friends, don't you talk about different things and even have different mannerisms/sayings when you are with different groups of friends? Do you act differently with large groups as opposed to just one person.
I'll be the first one to say I'm guilty of this. I have so many hobbies and interests (and groups that go along with these). I mean from "class" friends to "rec" friends to "High School" friends to "Technical (nerdy)" friends to "how the crap did I ever meet this person" friends to "Hang out on the weekend" friends to, dare I say, "Religious friends" to extended family.
Part of it of course is a necessity of circumstance: I don't think anyone can give a lecture to 20,000 people with the same persona as when talking one-on-one in a coffee shop: It's apples and oranges and it should be that way (although some people have the gift of being very real and even personal when delivering speeches to massive audiences).
Some people might say this is a bad thing. Some may say it's good and "normal". I'm not sure. Maybe it's a healthy outlet to different aspects of our emotions. Maybe it's unhealthy to be so unsure of who our true self is. If anyone has any input on "compartmentalization", I'd love to hear it.
-Brett
I think Switchfoot has a song about this called 24.
2 comments:
Hey...I don't think there is anything wrong with the acting differently among other friends. I mean, people always say "you need to be yourself" and "people will love you for who you are in the inside," but everyone is going to have a corky, nerdy, sick side to him or her. Even, i should say, the pastor is going to have different sides. He isn't going to preach the same way he watches a sunday football game with his buddies. In my opinion, static people are more "boring" if that's the right word or not. You have to adapt to your surroundings.
Good for people to know.
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