Watching Paint Dry

It’s dull, matt, and often the worst possible colour in the spectrum- listless pastel yellow or peach, or the same shade as apricot milkshake sick, and it’s nothing but a chore to use. Trouble is, it’s not there for form, but for function- and if you invest the time and money into using it, you’ll have a smile on your face for much longer.

Undercoats are there to seal and protect, to wrap and nourish. They provide absolution for any physical sins the walls have committed, and help to armour against future temptations. You slap it on in back-breaking tedium, and then cover it up with the glamorous robes that obscure its usefulness.

There’s always something going on beneath the surface; sometimes it’s there to protect, sometimes it’s just hidden away…

Overcoats: the traditional outfit of hoboes, perverts and schoolboy mass murderers. They conceal racks of watches, parcels of white powder and filthy clothes. They are sodden with rain and smell of stale air, cigarette smoke and mothballs. Behind their dense drapery, the body’s form is lost to function, as legs become a solid silhouette, and hips and waist are merely imagined.

What horrors lurk inside this hellish garb, whose tweed foppery is lined with sinister and thinly-veiled threats? (Poe moment…)

What we choose to do beneath, or reveal above can be good or evil. Sometimes what we hide is the best of us, and sometimes what we reveal in order to intimidate reveals only our flaws rather than our strengths. Perhaps we should look at showing off our vulnerable parts more, and give up trying to posture ourselves as tougher than nails. If we are to represent ourselves as human, then how many more dimensions can we add, just by expressing what is already there?

So I’m not sure if I’m sorted out either way- I need to work on putting the proper energy into laying strong foundations, even if that’s thankless labour, but also make sure I’m getting rid of any layers getting in the way of being authentic, true to myself. I figure I’m not alone in this…

There’s so much to you and I we haven’t shown or seen. I look forward to being surprised.