)(( hannah mello ))(

Life's Pop Quizzes. ^

I just read this article on YahooNews.

(and I must say, that Yahoo's homepage has been featuring an eclectic and interesting assortment of news and articles of late. I almost feel like they're testing their demographic of web surf action too-- giving articles that might interest a variety of demographic sets to see who has interest...)

The article is on the topic of tennis star, Serena Williams.
She had a recent match loss and "graceless" interview following, adding to others recently I guess, where she was markedly cold and cranky about it. A sore loser.

Ok. Sure. No judgment AT ALL.
EVERYONE HAS A BAD DAY. Sure, especially especially especially if you're in the public eye, in ANY form, you're GONNA be overwhelmed and frustrated with everyone being IN YOUR FACE all the time. I have no right whatsoever to even THINK that I know what that feels like or is like on the celebrity level. So, Serena Williams, NO JUDGMENT AT ALL TOWARDS YOU. :)

For me, the article just brought up a particular reality, even though it is in the extreme case of celebrity life and the public eye. The article really touches on the topic of what makes adulthood messy. The realities of what makes grace & maturity worth something. The benchmarks of maturity that we as adults are unexpectedly measured against.

Key word: unexpectedly measured against.

The pop quizes of life. The candid camera moments. Confrontations without emotional resilience/readiness/preparation/strength to respond instead of reacting. They might be on the job. With our family. In our romantic relationships. With a taxi driver. Our housemate. Wherever and whenever.

But, reality is, those all-of-a-sudden sqeezes-- when life or people squeeze us like a ketchup bottle is squeezed-- what squirts out is an indication of what is inside of us. Like a certain Jewish carpenter once said: "For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks."

I've written about the film before,
but the film "Stepmom" really addresses the issues too of what makes maturity in someone-- in the face of disappointment, humiliation, being wrongly accused, whatever. Response (which is maturity) versus reflex (which is easy/immediate).

The mother in the film, played by Susan Sarandon, clashes with Julia Roberts character on the issue which surfaced during a parenting moment-- the daughter had an experience that warranted a lesson in this brand of maturity.

= Julia Roberts was an advocate of acting out of the humiliation-- getting back at the villian, active and vocal.
= Susan Sarandon was an advocate of acting out of understanding-- understanding the juvenile and unrealistic situation, not acting, and being silently strong.

Being an observer in the audience, I immediately rooted for Julia Roberts' way only to find myself seeing Saradon's way as being so gorgeous and true in the end.

Anyway.... :)
Again, this is not about black and white morality-- squeaky clean goodness-- or judgment or condemnation on ANYONE, I see it as just a good opportunity to chew on the topic of personal evolution into adulthood and maturity when it comes to life's pop quizzes...

AND-- I think, we'll ALWAYS fail at least 50-90% of them. :) But, maybe it's not the "grading" of our success/failure that's what's important. Maybe it's that the pop quizzes propel us into understanding and mental expansion. Maybe the pop quizzes inspire us to take to heart what we already know to be true and good and firm life-wise and just start living it out.

It's easy to have heroes and people we admire/look up to. I love love love biographies and stories and quotes. Movies and novels and mentors. The challenge is when it's OUR TURN to be the adults in our day and age. We have to step up and step into our own.

So, a toast to what Elbert Hubbard once insightfully said:
"Life is just one damned thing after another." :)
Cheers to one damned lesson after another-- one damned step after another--
the growing, evolving, pacing and becoming.
A toast. A toast.

posted by )(( hannah mello ))( @ 9:13 PM