Life as a Bookshelf

I know it seems an odd choice but consider for a moment- doesn't a bookshelf in a person’s home tell you a lot about who they are? I say this because I have one in my bedroom and when I take a moment to look at it, I see in it a snapshot of the life that we have as a family.

To begin with there are the obvious things- photographs, the books my husband and I have read (or are planning to read). So you know the year each of us graduated, what our intellectual leanings are. But then there are the more subtle things. They are easy to miss but they will tell you a whole other tale.

In our case (no pun intended) my husband has put out a couple of “Employee of the Quarter Awards” that he received at his previous job. Initially I was confused about this display given that he never really liked working with that company, but then I realized that these awards were perhaps the pleasant aspects that he wanted to keep from the seven years he spent with them. As humans our emotions are far more complex than we are willing to let on. We may claim to like or dislike something absolutely, but that is rarely true. Love, hate, like, dislike are rarely that simple or black and white.

What you will also see in some bookcases are little knick-knacks. Souvenirs of the travels people have made. They will be displayed casually, atop a pile of books, or tucked carelessly on the side. Take a closer look at these and you will get a peek into what kind of vacations people take. The souvenirs they bring back will tell a lot. A beer drinker will bring back a small keg from Germany while a history buff like me will bring back a replica of some church I saw.

Even the more obvious items have a deeper revelation. You can tell a lot by the pictures and the books people choose to show. It is not surprising then that the largest photograph in my bookshelf is that of my husband with his mother because that is dearest relationship to him. And both of us have our Graduation pictures displayed prominently. As professionals our education is our biggest asset and that comes through in the pictures we have put out.

Generally speaking, what you see in a bookcase is a deliberate choice that someone has made. It is a part of their identity that they have pieced together. It is done hoping that what we put out tells the world “This is what I do and this is what I like”. But just like you should not judge a book by its cover alone, don’t judge a person by the more obvious things you see in a bookshelf. Look for what it is not showing. That is where the true story will be revealed and you never know what surprises you may find.