There is a magnifying mirror in my parent's house. Not a normal magnifying mirror, but one where I swear you would be able to see the deepest layer of your skin if you stare at it for more than a minute. I haven't been able to look into that mirror for that long. The second my eyes caught sight of my face in it, I turned away. Scared.
This revealing mirror got me thinking that more often than not, it's better to live alien to certain truths. I don't mean that we should all lie (not even white lies), no, I'm a very honest person. What I mean is that, occasionally, ignorance is a direct cause of happiness. A few very personal illustrations of this point:
- Dental surgery - I truly believe I am a happier person without knowing the details of what happened in the 2 hours I was anesthesised
- Santa - the confusion of finding a Barbie hidden in my parents' wardrobe a few days before seeing it under the tree and the consequent revelation of years of false beliefs
- Sales - they can ruin the excitement of owning a pair of gorgeous shoes, when seeing them half price a few weeks later
- Food - I trust that you're all familiar with the ingredients that go into the very Spanish black pudding or outrageously expensive French foie? And I don't want to know any of the translations for the delicious plates I tried in Tokyo...
- Relationships - if he ever stupidly slipped, he can live with the guilt. I'm not a priest, you won't be forgiven upon confession
- Judgmental people - I prefer living not knowing what you think about me. I don't care
and of course, the thing that started this post in the first place.. - Magnifying mirror - my happy little world of ignorance perverted by the blunt truth
So trust me when I say that:
"The quality of your life is in direct proportion to the amount of uncertainty you can comfortably deal with."
