The Misunderstood

Says the extrovert who doesn't understand introverts (kidding!)

I think ever person ever living has been misunderstood. Some are better at expressing themselves than others are, and are thus less misunderstood. Introverts are stereotype bad at expressing themselves. However, extroverts can be bad at expressing them selves and introverts good...and visa versa.

Do you think his brother Theo understood him? I think he may have understood him the most. I read a book of letters between the brothers years ago when I was in college. They were quite tender. Theo was very understanding and took care of him.

It's not all black and white, cut and dried. I'm from Alabama, too. Have you heard of Nickajack? It was an area in northern Alabama and Tennessee that seceded from the secession. They were not so much antislavery as they were anti secessionist and pro union. The guys from Nickajack formed a unit and fought for the Union- blacks and whites mixed. The men from Nickajack were so loyal, that Sherman used them as his personal body guards on his march to the sea. There were many Unionists in the south. Check out the film The Free State of Jones about an area in Mississippi.

I say this as a person who has family anecdotes about an ancestor whose husband and sons were all killed fighting for the South and she and her daughters had to boil the dirt out of the salt house for salt, they were close to starving. I think of it as the "rich man's war and the poor man's fight".

Oh cool! I have not read the book of letters, I only have read the letters on exhibition.

I'm not sure whether Theo could truly understand him. Yes, from what I remember the letters were tender.

I guess all that mattered was that Theo and Vincent loved each other.

It makes sense, because in this world sometimes we try and figure people out. It often results in judgement because we can't truly understand what it is like to be someone else. If someone has different circumstances than us, or lives a different way, we should trust that God has them in that spot for a reason and pray to be a light in their life, not a negative... I often have to remind myself of this! Lol.

That's the thing - We are called to love each other whether we can understand or not.

OMGosh yes!! I don't know how I missed this..

Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and gray
Look out on a summer's day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul
Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and the daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colors on the snowy linen land

Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
How you suffered for your sanity
How you tried to set them free
They did not listen, They did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now

"Vincent" by Don McLean


I often think I feel like him when I'm sad...

I liked that song American Pie. Didn't even know he did anything else.

Oh wow. Thank you so much for sharing! Ive never heard this song and just listened to it online.

I started tearing up when he sang "This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you". Ah, in the world, but not of the world, I suppose.

Maybe you should get some paints and a canvas and travel to France next time you are sad...

Don McLean seems to have toured for a long time. Here he is covering Roy Orbison

[video=youtube;XjMNOouIb0k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjMNOouIb0k[/video]

I think it is hard to understand others, but it seems that is what we are all looking for- at least I am looking for it, that longing to be understood. I know that no one can be understood completely, except by God- but there are rare people that can understand us mostly. I think Theo understood him better than anyone, maybe it is a sibling relationship. I know the only person who has really ever "gotten me" thus far was my late sister. We were so in tune, we could look at each other and know exactly what the other was thinking, or laugh about something that was not easily apparent why something was funny and KNOW why the other person laughed.

Theo had to basically bankroll Vincent, much to his wife's displeasure and when every other person in the world was disgusted with Vincent, Theo was always there. He understood why Vincent pursued art, and not a career- although the world said Vincent's art was no good. I think he understood him better than anyone.

I don't know if love is complete without understanding. Or trying to understand. That's just my opinion, though.

That's too bad, I thought it was fantastic. But, I am interested in Civil War history, especially in the history of the people left on the home front. I liked the theme of the poor versus the rich. It is amazing that nearly illiterate people would rebel against the rebellion. They had a lot of courage.

Galatea, I am so very sorry to learn of the loss of your dearly beloved sister.

It's alright. She went home in 2009, and I know where she is, waiting for a VERY long conversation when I get home too. She was younger by three years, and I was forever telling her things. But, when I get home, the shoe will be on the other foot. SHE will be instructing me about how Heaven works, and I'll be learning from her for a change. Thank you for your sweet words.

I haven't read a Danielle Steel novel, so I probably shouldn't judge them- but I think they are probably not exactly literature. I read a book someone recommended, and it was so bad- I felt awful because I could not talk about it with her afterward.

There was a lot of controversy about The Free State of Jones, about how accurate the film was. There were some inaccuracies- but I think anytime we watch a Hollywood film about historic events we need to keep a healthy dose of critical thinking in the backs of our minds. It seems as though the main points were true- but some of the facts about Newton's personal life were glossed over instead of presented factually. I think it would have taken away from the focus of the story- the struggle of the poor, and focus it on the more lurid details of Newton's life, and the film would not be as streamlined.

Donald Trump.

I don't like when people say, if they want to act like an animal then treat them like an animal." Animals are more humane than most humans.

The war's over; move on already.