There Will Be Time

I woke up this morning after a night full of literature related dreams (I'm being completely serious) with my mind stuck on "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." For the life of me, I couldn't stop thinking about it, which is odd since I haven't read it since my junior year. True, I loved it when I read it, but had filed it away in that portion of my brain dedicated to things that are interesting, but not important enough to have in immediate recall. For the last two years it has been dwelling alongside the names of my 3rd grade teacher's oldest child and the fact that, in Kentucky, it's illegal to put an ice cream cone in one's pocket. I suppose this is a bit unfair, seeing as J. Alfred is a little more deep and meaningful, but he got filed away nonetheless.

Finally, the incessant replay of the one line I have memorized ("There will be time/To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet") got the better of me and I reread the poem. And, just like the first time I read it, I was simultaneously overjoyed and depressed. Overjoyed because it's a poem that I legitimately like and from which I can draw meaning and depressed because of the meaning I find. How terrible would it be to live every day in complete and utter fear of what the world is thinking of you? J. Alfred isn't the only one..."the spotlight effect" refers to the extent which people believe the world is watching them. (good news: the spotlight effect isn't nearly as bad as people think. Read about it here.) Doesn't he see that he's not living? He's constantly looking over his shoulder at the reactions of those he passes by. It makes me sad because I know that sometimes I do that, too. I know that a lot of people hold back from what they want to do or who they want to be because they're afraid that they'll be judged for not being the perfect cookie cutter mold of what people "should" be or "should" do. But if we don't throw aside labels and judgements, we are all going to end up just like J. Alfred - alone, sad and longing for the life that he could have had.

So there's my life lesson for the day. Don't be like J. Alfred. Have confidence in yourself and be the person who you know you can be. Live your life the way that you want to, despite what the world tells you is the "right" way. Read The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Admire T.S. Eliot for his work of art and learn from the character he created.