Page 89 - 1931 Hartridge

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Who’s T ourself1
C W E N T Y minutes 1 sat down to w'rite on the subject, “ l>e 'S’ourself!” riie X results of these past twenty minutes are three \])ieces of \]>a\])er hearinj^* three false starts, a head of l)adly rum\])led hair, and an entirely altered \])oint of view.
Ilow can any one he “himself”? W'e live amonj>* other peo\])le all our lives, X hear and read the opinions of others, and yet tell others to he themselves. “He yourself’' is meaninj>iess, for every individual is such a continually shifting- melange
of wit and dullness, \]:)oetry and \])rosc, mimicry and the desire to he mimicked, that X to he oneself is to he thousands of other peo\])le at the same time, ddie very \])hrase X creates an atmosphere of artificiality, and in the effort to he ourselves we turn into
complete strangers.
If we could actually he ourselves in the ordinary sense of the phrase, how X unhearahly dull most of us would he! Hut fortunately this is im\])ossihle. ()n
the contrary it is the mimicry, the vanity, the hluff that makes peo\])le interesting—
the desire to he like Lincoln, iulna Millay, or Mussolini, or, more accurately, a
charming mixture of all three.
I don't mean that we should lose our personality (for every one has, among an astonishing assortment of (jualities, a \])ersonality of his own) hut we can aug­
ment its power with the strength of the \])ersonality of others.
If only we could stop making this tremendous struggle to “he ourselves,” and
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without conscious effort he ourselves and others too! tain, he a whale! hut give u|) tryiucj to “he yourself” !
AT NKHIT-d'
l-»e a lily, he a C’ongo chief­ H. K.. ’32.
The moon in silver rays descending Lights field, stream, lake, and sea.
While Morpheus blessed sleep is sending To every one, including me.
The lake, its waters gently Howing,
Reflects both stars and moon ; X
The distant lights are softly glowing Like mirrors in the dark lagoon.
The romance of the night is past, Now breaks the golden morn.
1'he sun is rising in the east And a new day is horn.
n. N., ’37
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Jhige liighty-five