Lady Gaga's Little Lesson.

You see what blogging can do for you? I spent the last half hour or so reading up on Lady Gaga, and all because of seeing a video at Madeline’s blog here.

(Me? Lady Gaga? Yeah, I know. Versatile, aren’t I?)

So anyway, in the end I decided she was very talented in lots of ways, but I couldn’t help feeling an undercurrent along the lines of ‘I think she takes herself a bit too seriously.’ My opinion is of no consequence, of course, but it did have me wondering whether I take myself too seriously. I don’t know; how can I? The problem is this:

When we form opinions of people, we do so mainly by employing two areas of scrutiny: the extent to which they accord with our own sensibilities, and the ways in which they conform to or differ from the received norm. In both cases, it’s based on the external view. So how can you do that with yourself, since you don’t have an external view uncoloured by subjective perception? It’s like being locked in a house. You can go to the windows on all sides and look at all the other houses in the neighbourhood, but the one house you can’t see is your own.

I think I know myself very well, having always kept a part of my consciousness standing aside and looking back. But it could never be totally disconnected from the subjective view, so it can never be complete.

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!