I wrote this while looking into a mirror and studying my face. I was wondering just how many of my feelings, views and philosophy was mine and how much was put there by my culture, upbringing, education, social mores and adopted position.
We are all subject to expectations and restrictions. We are all put through the cultural mincer. What comes out the other end is a shredded version.
How much of my philosophy was merely reaction against the pressures on me and how much were my genuine views.
How can you tell?
Is there a real essence of me that makes objective decisions on matters of morality or actions? Or are we pulled back and forth by the forces acting upon us?
I was fortunate that my family did not indoctrinate me with their politics or religion. They left me to discover my own mind. But the school, my friends and society at large had bearing on my thoughts.
Where am I in the midst of those lines on my face? They are familiar and yet the more I stare the more unknown I become. The lines lie.
Am I a product or an essence?
Lines
Read between the lines
On my face
That’s where the truth
Lies
Down through the years
On my genes
Written in disguise
Drifting through the tides
Of time
Rushing through the dreams
Of space
Wondering at the sense
Of wonder
Gouged deep within
My face.
Opher 25.7.95