Hal C Clark's Blog

Who Are We?

Solitude

I often sit and watch life happen

From the other side of a glass wall,

Putting words to expressions I see

On faces of those lives I study,

A casual observer

Wondering who they are

And why they are.

I sit in a closet surrounded by darkness,

Hiding from this world’s life,

Seeking the safety of solitude,

Existing alone within myself.

I am at peace,

Separated from my cares,

And lift the world from my shoulders.

Hal C. Clark

October, 2006

How much do we tell others about who we really are? What part of ourselves do we hide from the world? When we write fiction, do we write about that secret part of ourselves?

When I write fiction, I look forward to being anybody I want to be. Male or female, young or old, in the present, past or future, I can make my choices. I can put my characters in any situation and decide how they will react, how they will solve the problems.

Some people say fiction is, to some extent, autobiographical. Does that mean we may reveal something about ourselves when we write fiction? How would anyone know what part is really us and what part is entirely made up?

I don’t have any really dark secrets in my past, but there are happenings, thoughts, and ideas I wouldn’t share with anyone but family, and a few I would share only with my wife. If we are honest, I think we all have a few things we would never share with anyone.

I like to observe people and make up stories about them based on appearance, clothing, and body language. Who are they, what is their family structure, occupation, what are their likes and dislikes? Importantly, how do they feel about themselves? If we look closely, they tell us a lot about themselves.

Unfortunately, there are a few people who are experts at hiding who they really are, and they are the scariest true life characters. The shooters at Columbine High School had everyone fooled. There have been a couple of kidnapping cases in recent years where the kidnappers lived in ordinary neighborhoods with their victims without detection. There are many women, victims of abuse, who never saw the abusive nature of their husbands before marriage.

So, you may be revealing something about yourself through your appearance, habits, and body language, or even what you write about or read about, but it probably won’t be anything really important. What are your ideas on people and what they say about themselves?