Tres Vidas

I've met several people who's favorite book is 100 Years of Solitude. Tried four times to read it but couldn't. Not my cup of tea. But the author once said something that I think of often: Uno tiene tres vidas: la vida pública, la vida privada y la vida secreta.

That's the first thing I thought of when I heard about three lives this past April: Philip Markoff, Susan Boyle, and Russell Dunham. Philip's this fairly attractive guy with an immense hidden evil. Susan's this fairly unattractive woman with an immense hidden talent. Russell was a fairly average looking guy with an immense hidden strength.

People are really good at hiding their pretty and their dirty. All of those little bits of this 'n that, aggregated over time like piles of crumbs, cemented together by secrets.

It's only when situations shift that our real selves cut through the chatter - whether that be by choice like Susan and Philip, or by chance like Russell. Our real selves are always there, just waiting.

After the London bombings, some dude quipped something like, "Always wondered how I'd act in a crisis. Turns out I'm rubbish in a crisis."

It's totally true. Everyone has three lives: a public life, a private life, and a secret life.