3/24/2008

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?"

So lately, I have been telling this little story to whoever will listen to me. I just can't seem to wrap it around my head, and also why I am so affected by it. I was talking with a co-worker (I think we were talking about appearance at work) and she had mentioned to me that I looked "wholesome." If someone had taken a picture of me at the exact moment that word was uttered, they would have the perfect expression for WTF?.

I don't look wholesome! I wear holey jeans and ratty shoes! I have a mean-don't-mess-with-me scowl! I drink and swear like a sailor! I have tattooes! Isn't that the antithesis of wholesome?

Wholesome is defined, according to dictionary.com, as:
whole·some
–adjective
1. conducive to moral or general well-being; salutary; beneficial: wholesome recreation; wholesome environment.
2. conducive to bodily health; healthful; salubrious: wholesome food; wholesome air; wholesome exercise.
3. suggestive of physical or moral health, esp. in appearance.
4. healthy or sound.

And here is what thersaurus.com says:
Main Entry: wholesome
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: healthy
Synonyms: all there, beneficial, clean, decent, edifying, ethical, exemplary, fit, good, hale, health-giving, healthful, helpful, honorable, hygienic, innocent, invigorating, moral, nice, normal, nourishing, nutritious, nutritive, pure, respectable, restorative, right, righteous, safe, salubrious, salutary, sane, sanitary, sound, strengthening, together, virtuous, well, worthy

This doesn't sound bad does it? So what is my problem? Why do I fight being defined as wholesome? I guess for me when I think wholesome I think innocent, naive, pure. I would rather be seen as worldly, experienced (and not in THAT way), and realistic. Hey, I even would rather be definied as cynical and jaded.

But, in reality, I am just kidding myself. I like to spend, what others may see as too many, weekends home visiting my family. I like websites devoted to cute animal pictures. Babies make me smile and talk in an annoyingly high voice. Shows like Extreme Home Makeover make me cry (and if you tell anyone, I will kick your ass...ok, no I won't). I find myself smiling at strangers. Yes, I am more wholesome than I want to admit.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hollie,

You may think and act cynical at times, but your overall being is definitely very, VERY wholesome! And by that, I mean genuinely true, good, and natural. It all started with you returning that dollar bill to a stranger who most likely did not originally own it....