identity – thefriendlygiraffe

“Maybe you’re a woman in search of a word.” [Eat Pray Love]

November 4, 2012November 4, 2012by Arden Jobling-Hey12 Comments

What’s in a word?

Recently, I revisited a quote from the movie Eat, Pray Love that made me stop and take the time to really reflect. In the movie, Julia Roberts, who plays Liz Gilbert (author of the book upon whom this story is truly based), struggles to find a word that represents who she is. The friends she’s made in Italy try to find words to represents themselves and the cities they’ve visited – London is “stuffy”, New York is “ambition” or “soot”, and Rome is “sex” – but all Liz can think of to define herself, is “writer”, which her companions point out, isn’t who she is, but what she does for a living. At the end of the book, after a satisfying journey of learning to let go of a nasty divorce and love herself again so she can start to love somebody else, Liz decides that her word is, in fact Attraversiamo, an Italian word meaning let’s cross over.

Gilbert’s journey throughout the movie helps bring her back to who she used to be by helping her to cross over to her old self; someone who was happy; someone who had the capability to give love and receive it; someone inspired who had the ability to inspire others, through actions and words – in her case, words written in the form of a book. The word Attraversiamo for Gilbert, was the perfect reflection of who she was at that particular moment in time. Continue reading ““Maybe you’re a woman in search of a word.” [Eat Pray Love]” →

the view from above

PRK Corrective Eye Surgery: Weighing the Risks for the Me I See

March 23, 2012June 6, 2012by Arden Jobling-Hey3 Comments

I’m two weeks away from undergoing PRK (Photorefractive keratectomy) and after fielding incoming questions from my vision enhance friends and colleagues, I’ve started to seriously consider whether undergoing eye surgery is worth the risk.

Continue reading “PRK Corrective Eye Surgery: Weighing the Risks for the Me I See” →

the view from above

Living in the Hair and Now

January 18, 2012May 24, 2012by Arden Jobling-Hey4 Comments

Okay guys (specifically followers of the male sex) – you may think that because this is a blog about my visit to the hair salon that there’s nothing in it for you. Well, you’re 99% right but if you’re interested in learning more about your women, then congrats, you are one of the 1% who will benefit should you decide to keep reading. Why? Because having one’s hair done is an experience which can, for a woman, redefine who she is and act as the universal remedy (albeit, temporary) to any ailment, stress or disappointment she may endure. Think this is illogical? Think again. For many women, our happiness is largely connected with being at ease with our sense of identity; the collective aspect of the set of characteristics by which a thing is definitively recognizable or known (thank you dictionary.com). In layman’s terms : it’s who we are (or strive to be) on the inside, and who we appear to be on the outside, and thus how we are generally perceived by those around us.