Opening to New Horizons

I suppose I never know how open my horizons are. I may think they’re pretty good, but then come in contract with someone who wrenches my heart open a little wider, or just challenges my perceptions such that I’m forced to reconsider all I may have once held dear. Today was one of those days.

We all have people who push our buttons — who talk too much when the game is on, espouse conservative politics when we’re an Obama-lover, or just not engage when all we want is a good, old fashioned heart-to-heart. I have someone who comes into my life every once in a while who does this, usually by talking through an orifice better left to other things.

This person doesn’t bother to gather facts or filter the Internet or other sources for information. He/she does like to talk a lot, usually about nothing, while clinging to some fabricated sense of purpose or opinion. Which, if we’re being honest here, annoys me to no end. So I tried a variety of means to reframe this, um, person. I tried thinking of time as an arrow, shooting through space so the conversation could be over faster. I tried imagining this person in his/her underwear, as they ask you to when speaking in public. But all this got me was a dizzy, unpleasant feeling I’d rather forget.

Finally, I settled on an old standby, the reframe by committee. In another room, I asked my husband if I was being unreasonable. He, being the reasonable type, would tell me the truth. He agreed. This person was being an idiot. But the look on his face, as he was trying to be fair but honest, got me, and then I started giggling to no end. And then he started giggling, on and on until I’d completely forgotten what it was I’d asked him about.