I see you

I'm that girl who strikes up conversations with strangers. I won't say I do it all the time, it depends I guess on my mood, the recipient's facial expression and the place. Don't stress, I'm not one to chitchat in the lady's room. Which I might add is where the best conversation eavesdropping can be had. People's stories and lives interest me. The way we relate to one another interests me. I enjoy people watching and the grand prize is finding the story behind the face. Today we met a guy selling artwork at a beach close by. I asked if I could take a picture of the artwork for my blog. It was a gorgeous sign written Family-Love-Life. The kind of decoration you'd imagine seeing in a holiday beach home. The best I can do is give a description since dude refused my request. With good reason though, adding that if a picture is taken, one could replicate his work. True. Even though I understood his point I pushed that I wasn't artistic at all and although I wasn't buying either, I did want to capture his creativity. Dude stood his ground by replying that he can tell an artist when he sees one. Really? I thought, how flattering. Because honestly, I'm useless at crafty artsy stuff. He continued by telling me that he was from Senegal, traveled the world and has therefore acquired a skill of learning people by appearance. I gave myself a once over trying to see how he saw me. How did he come to the conclusion that I was artistic? Was it the scarf? The black cardigan? The knee high boots? The skinny jeans? The face with no make up? Or was it the just-rolled-out-of-bed messy buzz cut hairstyle (forgot to do a mirror once over before leaving the house-how tragic)? Whatever it was, art selling dude reminded me that as I see him, he sees me too. Which made me think about how we portray ourselves. How funny that he saw how I'd like to be seen. Even though I may not be able to recreate that gorgeous sign, he was right, I am an artist.