Ok, yes, that is soap on a plate. I’ll talk about that, but first: messy characters. In movies and literature, the character flaws and the quirks make us fall in love with and remember characters. But why? Because it’s real. If we were all puppets doing just what was expected with no hang ups or failures or personal messes in our lives, there’s no story.
There are no heroes or villains or anything to overcome if we’re all just perfect. In fact, the messier the character, the deeper the connection us real humans make.
Messy characters are the best because authentic, messy people are the best too. I have one of those grandpas who used to tell the stories of all his scars. In his gravelly West Virginian voice, I learned about what left marks on him as a younger man.
in the same way that I lived to hear another story about another scar, I deeply love to see how story characters reveal their unseen scars. If I consider you my friend, you know I’m fully invested in this same facet of you. Because I love messy characters, we all do. They’re awesome.
More than that, I love messy people. Mostly because I’m a pretty messy person carrying a lot around inside me. Nothing is better than connecting deeply with my friends and learning more about who they are and hearing their stories while living through making new ones together.
I’m pretty sure I started asking why something is the way it is when I was close to two-years-old. My poor mom. And haven’t stopped asking for the last four decades.
Curious about the soap? That’s a clean mess of my own. Its covid y’all. I got exposed at work and got scared I was getting sick. I was in the shower and scared and I licked my soap to see if I was losing my sense of taste. I was not. It was hilariously funny. I love the man holding the plate because when I told him about licking the soap, he brought me a gourmet version 12 hours later. Why? Because no one understands and loves the messy human I am more than Jason.
Love you my dearest husband. My daily Valentine who doesn’t just want to know my messy self better, he shares my scars and took them as his own for life. Love you more every day.