looks can be deceiving

 A cover is not the book so open it up and take a look!

-Mary Poppins 

I simply love that quote. Ever since we started having lessons in school, different proverbs and idioms started coming in action. I remember feeling unnecessarily smart after saying "Look before you leap!" to my parents. And then a small proverb was introduced. 'Don't judge a book by its cover'. No one really cared back then because let's face it; we were chinte pinte kids who didn't have a care in the world.

Mary Poppins! (pic: pinterest)

But the proverb well and truly does carry a meaning! A similar saying is 'looks can be deceiving' which is the title of this post. As a first impression, most of the people I meet are like "You're a very quiet and shy girl!" HAH. NOPE. There are times when people I know well are on the verge of saying, "Could you please...take a break? From talking, I mean." 

People tend to judge our every move and draw a conclusion of their own. It's just that, most of the times, the conclusion is not real. At all. We look at only one side of the picture. Which brings me to another point. About half the things we see are not what we think they are. There are two sides to everything. One that we see, and one that remains hidden. This applies to our personalities too. I feel that each and every single person consists of not one, but many, many personalities. We are a different person with friends, someone different with family, with relatives, and someone completely different with strangers! Sure, there are similarities, dozens, as a matter of fact, in each of these different personas that we adapt to, but that is still a proof that about half the things we see are not what we think they really are!! 

Our true colors are also restrained at times, due to certain reasons. I myself am a night owl, yet I can't always stay up all night, because of school. Those who wish to talk and express may not be able to do so because they do not have the right audience. Some may not be supported to do what they desire to do. Certain parts of our personalities might remain simply hidden. I even wrote a post about it - Go with the flow...?

I thought of writing this when I saw a tree that looked very much like a Christmas tree. I mentally noted to get a closer look at it, since I didn't know that Christmas trees could just randomly grow on roadsides. While walking past it, however, I noticed that its bark was entirely covered with thorns! It looked like such an innocently beautiful little tree! I don't remember seeing thorns on Christmas trees!!

I may sound like someone who has been betrayed by a very good friend, but the truth is that it was dawning upon me that if we don't get a closer look at stuff, we shall remain oblivious to its true colors! (BTW, I have stopped talking about the seemingly innocent tree, I am talking about people at the moment) It just kind of hit me, you know, that life's not as real as we think it is. Even if we think we do, we don't really know half of what's happening around us. A slightly depressing thought, yes. My little way out of it? Get to know people better. Each person you meet should become your besht friend. Well, no, not everybody. I know a lot of people I'm not too keen on, but they do not have to know that (hehehe) Another example of how half the things we see are not real. Try to keep things real from your side, at the very least. Am I contradicting what I said before the earlier line? um, yes. But hey! Let us both learn together. From today onwards, let's be real. For real. Okay? 

That was a very confusing paragraph. Let me rephrase. When we realize that something in front of us is actually fake, instead of going up against it, let us try to ensure that we do not end up in the same situation and let us ensure that no one ever feels like going up against us because they think we are faking something. NO, I am not asking you to become a people pleaser. I am simply asking you to stay true to yourself and then automatically you will be true to your surroundings.

You know what, I think that all those motivational speakers in this world telling people to "be yourself" are simply trying to get a better look at their audience's personalities! They want people to show their true colors so that they don't have to waste their time in figuring things out!!!!! So, when that happens, the audience for the motivational speakers will find them even more relatable!!  That's actually such a great idea. OR the motivational speakers simply care for others and want others' lives to be better. Tough choice. 

*the above paragraph was written by me at a time when it was nearly midnight but i kept getting the feeling that i ought to write this in my blog. please excuse me if you feel that said paragraph is getting increasingly random*

I'd like to keep the conclusion of this post pretty simple: stay true to yourself, and even though looks (may it be trees or may it be people) are deceiving, don't let them deceive you.

Thanks for reading till hereeeeee!!!!

(since I'm posting this during Ganapati)  गणपती बाप्पा मोरया!!

~Swara