The Depth of My Shell

Leonardo DaVinci once said,
"The depth and strength of a human character are defined by its moral reserves. People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life, for only then do they have to fall back on their reserves."

I never really understood this until recently; within the last year or so.

I am a fan of depth of character. I think it's important to know that someone has many layers. Maybe I equate layers with intelligence. I don't know if that's right or wrong but I do know that it's important for me to know that there is someone below the surface; that there are deeper feelings, stronger impulses, more spirituality under that mask that a person wears for the world.
I felt sure that everyone had depth. I felt confident that if you look hard enough, everyone had layers.
But I've learned recently that some people don't seem to have layers.
I've noticed this in someone I've known for a long time. Someone in which I've been searching for that depth of character.
I held on just KNOWING that it was in there somewhere. I just had to draw it out by insisting somehow that it was there.
I glimpsed a little something underneath that was revealed when this person was taken out of their comfort zone. I didn't like it. It was fear.
Most of us have fear on some level but it's what we do with that fear that defines our character.
Do we run or do we face it?
If we always run, do we then become just a shell?

Posted by De at July 13, 2005 01:42 PM | TrackBack