|Discourse| On Trees and Personalities

 

 

“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” -- Abraham Lincoln

 

We cannot really discern the true character of a tree. We can only perceive it through the shadow it casts. Shakespeare alluded to this idea through the character of MacBeth: “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player...” 

 

Similarly, we can only observe a person’s personality through the shadows cast, visible in the sunlight, or as arranged by the angle of lighting. Without light, there is no shadow; without exposure to light, we cannot perceive a person’s personality.

 

Time and again, I see my own shadow in various forms, shaped by the surrounding lights. Other people are the primary source of the lights given to me. They are my lighting environment. Human environment.! They enable me to continue my blessed animation, utterly defeating the cliché that ‘life is a bore’.

 

© Ryang Suh, MD 2023.03.25