aplomb \uh-PLOM\, noun:
Assurance of manner or of action; self-possession; confidence; coolness
This word keeps cropping up in my life whether it’s conversation, reading, incoming daily email or just wishful thinking. It’s something I wish I had more of. I remember an ex asking me where I got such self confidence from and me having to admit that I didn’t know what the hell she was talking about.
Maybe it’s all about pretence, something like the old stuck record, “Fake it till you make it”. Well I got a certain dose of it last week. Driving through the Transkei in a bakkie with an assortment of backpackers and renegades on the back sharing quarts and marveling at the Transkei greenery. I resist the Kerouac urge with a great and enduring difficulty.
The dose came quick and easy courtesy of one Bobby Dylan. “People are crazy and times are strange. I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range. I used to care but things have changed.”
In a flash I felt like some road cowboy ditching the past into the Time out of Mind file. The one that contains everything that happened before memory began.
That I received it second hand did not matter one iota, in fact I felt a bit like people who’ve just seen the light. How he would feel about a phrase like, “I found Bobby”, is anyone’s guess but it tightened up my life and the rearview mirror was no longer my primary concern as I became focused on the road ahead, full of bends and cows, minibus taxis and goats with wide open spaces interspersed with dotted villages and people watching time go by.
Nothing lasts forever but I don’t tire of reminding myself about that moment when I feel rutted and stuck in 1st gear. Onlookers and innocent bystanders must think I’m a little nuts when they see this curious grin slowly light up my face and then deep in the recesses of my eyes a small flame ignites.
It’s all about the small things, ain’t it?
Quoted lyrics played a crucial role in Wonderboys.
Assurance of manner or of action; self-possession; confidence; coolness
This word keeps cropping up in my life whether it’s conversation, reading, incoming daily email or just wishful thinking. It’s something I wish I had more of. I remember an ex asking me where I got such self confidence from and me having to admit that I didn’t know what the hell she was talking about.
Maybe it’s all about pretence, something like the old stuck record, “Fake it till you make it”. Well I got a certain dose of it last week. Driving through the Transkei in a bakkie with an assortment of backpackers and renegades on the back sharing quarts and marveling at the Transkei greenery. I resist the Kerouac urge with a great and enduring difficulty.
The dose came quick and easy courtesy of one Bobby Dylan. “People are crazy and times are strange. I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range. I used to care but things have changed.”
In a flash I felt like some road cowboy ditching the past into the Time out of Mind file. The one that contains everything that happened before memory began.
That I received it second hand did not matter one iota, in fact I felt a bit like people who’ve just seen the light. How he would feel about a phrase like, “I found Bobby”, is anyone’s guess but it tightened up my life and the rearview mirror was no longer my primary concern as I became focused on the road ahead, full of bends and cows, minibus taxis and goats with wide open spaces interspersed with dotted villages and people watching time go by.
Nothing lasts forever but I don’t tire of reminding myself about that moment when I feel rutted and stuck in 1st gear. Onlookers and innocent bystanders must think I’m a little nuts when they see this curious grin slowly light up my face and then deep in the recesses of my eyes a small flame ignites.
It’s all about the small things, ain’t it?
Quoted lyrics played a crucial role in Wonderboys.
Labels: aplomb, confidence, crazy, Time out of Mind, Wondeboys
posted by R J Clarke at 12:42 AM
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