Just For You

I'm a bit of an analytical kind of guy. And I have a kind of fascination with honesty.

I try, as much as I can, to be honest with myself, about myself. And I've done some pretty serious self-exploration over the last couple of years. I've figured some stuff out.

But it's always interesting to know how other people view me, too. I think sometimes people can see things in me that I can't see (or don't recognize) in myself. And sometimes, I think that they miss the reality of who I am because something about me - or about them - gets in the way of seeing the truth.

In any case, I've come to grips with two things:

1. Not everyone has the same penchant that I do for "I want to know!" (relative to just about everything that doesn't involve numbers or heavy machinery)
   
2. Asking "hey, what do you really think about me?" can put people in kind of an uncomfortable spot. Especially if they're not nearly as fond of me as I think and also value honesty

So, as a rule, I don't go around asking. But I am always intrigued when I get a clue or two.

Now, we all recommend stuff to people because we like it. But I'll probably tell everybody that they should listen to whatever my album du jour is, whether it's their style or not. Granted, I may be a special case in that regard ("it's not the music that's a problem; it's your taste"), but I think most of us would do that. So if someone tells me, "hey, I loved this book, you should read it", I may read it, but I'll often interpret it as a comment about that person, or where they're at at the moment.

It's different though, when they say it like this: "I saw a movie that you need to see - I think it's just the kind of movie you would like".

All of a sudden, I have a pretty fascinating window into what they think about me. It happened to me twice in the last week or so, both times from colleagues who wouldn't really have any way to know much about my taste in movies.

But they know me.

Thankfully, neither one of the shows contains the words "bimbos", "outer-space", or "chainsaw". So far, so good.

The first, which I've just started to watch is "Into The Wild". The second is "There Will Be Blood" (which, as far as I could tell when he described it, is slightly more sophisticated than its "chainsaw" cousins).

Since I haven't watched them, I can't really comment yet on what it is my colleagues are trying to say about my personality when they suggested them. But I'm kind of curious to see.

Do you do this? I can't be the only one... come on, it's safe to open up here. We're all friends, and your mother will never need to know. Mine will, but she won't tell...