I was watching Ellen yesterday and she was interviewing her wife, Portia de Rossi. Portia has written a book about her struggle with an eating disorder. It was a great interview partly because it's obvious how much they love each other and also because Portia was so raw and vulnerable. I don't know if she was like that in other interviews or if it was because she felt safe with Ellen, but she made me want to buy her book because of how honest she was.
It struck me just now that this is a book that's been written many times over, but I want to read it because it seems so honest. We are surrounded by so much artifice... shows that claim to be reality but have nothing to do with it, procedures that make us look like someone we're not, popular attitudes we can assume to hide our true feelings and still appear edgy and cool.
I can't pretend to know what is good for everyone, but I know what I want. I want honesty. I want someone I can connect with. We are increasingly disconnected from each other--conducting our business over phones, computers and other means that are great for business but bad for human interaction--and we are feeling increasingly alone.
Watching a woman cry on national TV because she still hasn't gotten over the death of her father almost 30 years ago is hard, and I admire that so much. I would love to see more people stop pretending and honestly relate to each other. It's in knowing that someone else feels the same as I do that I feel less alone.
I'm happy that I saw that interview. I'll probably go out and buy Portia's book... and maybe I'll actually talk to--and possibly connect with-- some humans while I'm in the bookstore.
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