The fat lady

The restaurant with a terrace where I regularly drink my coffee is also visited by a much too fat lady. It is clear that in her life she has been disappointed in many ways, discontentment and sullenness radiate from her. Sitting by herself is a matter of course, compared to her massive body both table and chair seem extra tiny. She drinks several cups of coffee having a new piece of cake to go with each cup. Greedily she takes the cake in her hand taking indecent and much too large bites, cramming the cake into her mouth, shaking off crumbs that have fallen on her enormous bosom. In this way she satisfies her brain for a few seconds at the same time arousing her craving for more sugars and sweetness.

It does not resolve her pain.

I watch her in horror, understanding her pain. I am aware of what her real needs are and ask myself whether I can gather the courage to give it to her. Can I overcome my abhorrence, can I touch her abused body with a tender gesture? Would I be able to comfort her, let her cry out her misery? Which is stronger: my physical repulsion or my love inciting understanding? Will I be able to surmount

myself?

I imagine doing it, imagine that I reach beyond her anger and give her what she is yearning for,

watching her indifference disappear, seeing it melt away, remarking how her beauty and openness

reappear. She no longer needs to abuse her body with more sweetness and sugars. I watch her lose weight and reveal her true body. A contented person appears, one who is capable of finding real

fulfilment in her life.

Is this a daydream, an unfulfilled thought or is it a concept of reality? Is my daydream image a reality that has been lost by attaching too much importance to values, opinions and prejudices - ones which define our preferences or disapproval? Do we live in an imagined world rather than in reality? Maybe we can envision that all people are like you and me, with the same feelings and the same needs, even the people we feel repulsed by through our thoughts (opinions and prejudices).

Maybe this is the first step in reality.