Seriously…I'm Kidding

Ellen Degeneres

Morda zaradi obdobja preživetih izkušenj, morda česa drugega, so nekatera življenjska opažanja v knjigi lahko podobna tistim tu v Evropi. Kakšne izmed situacij pa so celo naključno? sovpadale s tistimi v sedanjem življenju, celo v času branja knjigeJ

Življenjskih spoznanj ni zapisala na način, ki bi terjal, da bi vzporedno z zaprtimi očmi peli in poslušali »Killing me softly«, ampak jih je zavila v optimistično in humorno preobleko pogleda na svet. Njen moto je, da naj ne skrbimo, da bodimo veseli in tudi pri definiciji sreče nam je ponudila spoznanje, ki vsekakor pomaga: »Happinies is a jurney, not a destination.«

Nekaj o samopodobi in notranjem zadovoljstvu. »To me beauty is about beeing comfortable in your skin. It's about knowing and accepting who you are. I'm happy being who I am. I'm confident. I live honestly and truthfully, and I think That's why I was chosen as the first fifty-year-old, openly Cover Girl. It's just bonus that I have devastating blue eyes.«

Marsikomu poznano je tudi njeno spoznanje o kopičenju stvari v poglavju Stuff: »It is astounding how much stuff we all have. Our closets are dull of stuff. Our drawers are full of stuff. Our stuff is piled on top of other stuff. And the older we get the more stuff we have because over the years we buy more and more stuff and we never want to let go of anything. Nowadays people are a little more aware of how much stuff they have because there's a bit of social stigma if you have too much stuff. There's even a name for people who have the most stuff. They are called hoarders. Back in the day they were just called grandmothers.«

»And who's to say what's better or worse anyway? Who's to even say what's normal or average? We're all different people and we're allowed to be different from another. If someone ever says you're weird, say thank you. An then curtsy. No, don't curtsy. That might be too weird. Bow. And tip your imaginary hat. That'll show them.«

Poglavje Meditation je podobno kot knjiga Horjakove. Le vsebina je drugačna.

V knjigi so tudi poglavja, ki naštevajo naključne stvari, ki bi lahko bralcu pomagale, lahko pa tudi ne. »Everyone looks better in fuchsia.«; »There's no attractive way to get a cherry pit out of your mouth.«; »«Kerfuffle« is an actual word.« Slednje asociira na imaginarnega prijatelja Anouk, v bistvu pa gre za zakuhano zadevo, podobno kot se vrti okoli arbitraže, le velikost pomena je različna.

Obračanje k pozitivnemu je zaznati tudi iz te misli: »If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.«

O poti življenja. »It's the same with every career and life descision. You just have to keep driving down the road. It's going to bend and curve and you'll speed up and slow down, but the road keeps going.¨ Je pa zadevo v nekem kasnejšem poglavju povezala s tem, da naj v življenju ne hitimo. » Maybe we all need to slow down and stop running from one place to another all the time. Maybe whatever you're about to do can wait. Sometimes waiting can be really good for you. As an example, it's always a good idea to wait at least a half an hour after you've eaten before you go swimming. Some people say that's a myth, but say better to be safe than sorry. I wait half hor after eating before I go anywhere near the water, and that includes swimming, bathing, showering and panning for gold.« Skratka, potrpljenje je božja mast. Je pa tudi genialnost, kot je rekel George-Luis Leclerc de Buffon: »Genialnost v bistvu ni drugega kakor velika zmožnost potrpežljivosti.«

Razložila je tudi o tem, zakaj nekateri zamujajo. Ne pa o tem, da se nekateri opravičujejo, ker so prezgodni: »Izvinite, što sam zgodan.« Ali pa sprašujejo, če so prezgodni: »Jeli sam zgodan?«. Čez lužo pa je zamujanje očitno prava stvar za dvigovanje imidža. »I dont't know when it became socially acceptable to be late. I imagine it started with the person who coined the phrase »fashonably late.« What a terrible expression is that. I don't know who came up with it, but it was obviously someone smart enough to trick people into thinking that something is stylish when it is definetely not stylish. I'm assuming it's the same person who invented cullotes.« In bolje je, če nismo med tistimi »sans-cullotes.« Ali pa tudi ne, če na življenje gledamo z druge plati in ne čutimo krivde, kerimamo nekaj več.

»Every one tries to multitask now an do twelve different things at once. I once saw a woman talking on the phone, putting on the makeup, reading a newspaper, texting and Twittering at the same time. I went right over to her and said: »hey! You need to focus right one. You are my therapist.«« Podobnih situacij smo vajene slovenske gospodinje, ki navkljub pravni enakopravnosti še vedno doma počnemo vse in zato smo primorane opravljati več nalog hkrati. Najbrž je vsakomur jasno, da v tem primeru ni primeren možev medklic: »Osredotoči se!«

O tem, kaj je primerno za določeno starost. »You are never too old to play. You're only too old for low-rise jeans.«

Do konca knjige se prebijemo zlahka, saj nas med branjem stimulirajo zelo kratka poglavja. V Kakšnem se najde samo haiku, v kakšnem »bucket list«, v enem pa na primer »Pros and cons of making a list of pros and cons.« Pisateljica očitno dobro pozna psiho bralcev, saj nam je podarila tudi  »The longest chapter«, za katerega na koncu prizna, da ni najdaljše. Je pa gotovo to ena izmed stvari, s katero se ubadam v vsaki knjigi. Vedno malo polistam naprej, da vidim, koliko mi je še ostalo do naslednjega poglavja. Pa ne zaradi tega, ker bi se ob knjigi dolgočsila, ampak ker moram branje umestiti med vse druge dejavnosti in opravke. Vedno je laže brati knjige s krajšimi ali pa ravno prav dolgimi poglavji. Vsaj za gospodinje.