Are? Or were?
As adults are we still being influenced in our lives? Aren’t we supposed to know who we are, what we want?
I like to think (I pretend), that I was never influenced by anyone, that I am this individual who thinks and stands alone. I’m sure that’s not true because as children and especially teenagers, we are terribly influenced by others.
Maybe the word “influence” has been ruined or marred by “influencers”, which is why I have a problem with it.
You won’t catch me following or jumping on the bandwagon of any influencers on social media.
If I had to pick a handful of people I admire for the way they tell stories it would be these three ladies:
Growing up, Oprah Winfrey had an impact on me, the way she told the stories of everyday people.
The author Maeve Binchy, who wrote fiction yet made the characters so average that they seemed real, also had an impact on me.
I loved the way Lisa Ling reported on real people’s lives and situations on “This is Life with Lisa Ling”. I eat that stuff up.
I was at work the other day and was talking with a coworker about how she has written her dad right out of her life ever since he left her mom for another woman. This was almost ten years ago and yet she has not forgiven him. She says he’s “dead” to her. He doesn’t know her kids (his grandkids) and she says never will. This fascinates me and I wanted to know more.
Does she not think back on all the good memories with her dad from her childhood and doesn’t that tug on some heart strings? Doesn’t she realize people aren’t perfect and everyone makes mistakes, albeit some are bigger than others.
I really wanted to know more and another coworker (and friend) who was in on the conversation too said “okay Barbara Walters, that’s enough”. I realized maybe I was being too nosey but I wanted to try and understand where she was coming from.
Perhaps I missed my calling.
bloom.planted.north 
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