Writing by Gloria
  • About Gloria
  • Montage Moments...Gloria's Blog
  • Author Page
  • Works in Progress
  • Speaking
  • Testimonials

Montage Moments is a page of blog postings about a variety of subjects, thoughts and opinions..

So Real It Seems Fake

5/8/2013

4 Comments

 
Picture
    I recently said to my friend, as I admired her spring flowers, "They are so perfect, they almost seem fake."
    After the words left my mouth, I was thinking how totally backward that statement was.
    Weren't fake things:  flowers, fruit, art, fingernails, hairpieces all supposed to be made to look like the real thing? And now we have become so accustomed to fake things and their 'perfectness' we don't say how real they look; instead we say the real ones look like the fake ones. Wow. That was a long convoluted thought; I hope you followed my thinking.
    I remember when the first fake flowers became popular. They were plastic and although they looked like the real thing from a distance, it was pretty evident they weren't real when you really got closer. Some people, who obviously didn't have green thumbs or time to plant, would put them in their flowerbeds. The plastic red geraniums looked very convincing until they had been in the sun for a few months and began to fade. The real effect was definitely compromised when they were left out a few more months and had snow on them.
    Then came the silk flowers and the fake fruit that was truly beautiful and hard to tell from the real thing. There are many advantages to the silk flowers: they don't fade, wilt, die, or need water. You also don't have to buy new ones for each season. Just pack them away and when spring rolls around again, unpack and voila! new flowers.
    No matter how beautiful they are, there is something lacking; imperfections.  Maybe that is why I commented that my friend's flowers were so real and 'perfect' they looked fake.
    Isn't that true of many people, also? They appear fake, because they are so perfect. Perfect marriages, perfect children, perfect friends, perfect finances, perfect occupations, blah, blah, blah. I'm not suggesting we all need to share everything about our lives, but admitting a little imperfection is good for us.
    I attended a writing conference last summer. The advice from several agents and publishers was to always be personally transparent. Believe me, it was not necessary to tell me that; I live with my special needs daughter and if I am not honest about something I do or have said, she will tell people exactly how it was.
    My grandson who was 8-years-old at the time this picture was taken, mistook this fake apple for a real one, and proceeded to try to take a bite (notice teeth marks). I have kept it around for 7 years to serve as a reminder to myself to always be as 'real' as I can be, in my writing and in my daily life. I believe it is what God would want.

Picture
4 Comments
Ann Marie
5/13/2013 08:15:19 am

You make some very good points in this post, although I wonder how your friend reacted to your statement. Hopefully she knew what you meant!

Wow, that apple looks so real, it really is hard to tell the difference. My mom used to have those fake fruits too, and I remember trying to bite them also. Lol...must be a kid thing.

Reply
Gloria link
5/13/2013 12:37:48 pm

Thanks, Ann. Yes, the apple does look real, doesn't it? I guess we need to be more discerning about what is real and what isn't in our lives.

Reply
Sandra link
5/14/2013 12:05:49 am

My grandmother had a bowl of real-looking (at least to a little kid) wax fruit in the middle of her dining room table. And there was an apple that had little teeth marks in it. I have no idea where those came from (yeah, right), but from that point on, I was a little more discerning in what fruit I tried!

Reply
Gloria link
5/14/2013 06:32:43 am

I don't remember my mom having any wax fruit but I did when I had my own house. The upside of wax fruit is that it doesn't attract gnats.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author: Gloria Doty

    Archives

    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    October 2015
    June 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    RSS Feed

    View my profile on LinkedIn
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.