Eye Candy for Thanksgiving

As one who has never really enjoyed the quintessential American holiday, Thanksgiving, I was surprised to find myself inspired to blog about something related to its primary purpose; being thankful. Even more surprised when my thoughts about this societal inducement were not particularly negative.

Just for a little background, I was the kid who after helping prepare the family feast, ordered in pizza for her meal. Regaling guests with the traditional glut of turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole and such is well within my skill, but please don’t ask me to partake. I will not eat turkey, unless under duress, for a variety of reasons beginning with the processing plants and ending with the taste (or lack thereof). Other than as tempura or chips, I will avoid sweet potatoes at costs. Potatoes are for salt and pepper; marshmallows belong with chocolate. We won’t even discuss the endless versions of poultry stuffing, none of which I care to ever taste again. And to this that the meal would also include rites that I was not comfortable with, since unlike my family, I am not Christian.

So what could ever lead me to thoughts of gratefulness at this time of year?
The realization that, as I have matured, my judgment of a man’s looks has become more and more influenced by his personality. Unconsciously, I have been skewing my visual perception according to non-visual data. Being painfully analytical (especially of myself), I was stunned this weekend when I became aware of just how strong the non-visual influence is.

Yes, we all base our attraction to others on the combination of looks and personality, and I have been clear on that since at least puberty, if not before. But I am referring to how I have actually begun seeing someone’s features differently, depending on their attitude and behavior.

Case in point. A month or two ago I was introduced to some guys by a friend of mine while we were out clubbing. First impression was that both were nice looking, but a short while later I was so unimpressed that I would not have recognized them later. Nothing remarkable, apparently. Then one of them joined us at dinner the other night. As the evening progressed I saw more of his personality come through during his interactions with those around me. By the time I left, I was wanting to spend more time just gazing at what had become (to me) a beautiful face. He was now physically handsome to me. But to clarify, my only interest remains a visual one. This was not a more classic, full scale, hormone induced attraction. I have indeed experience that sort of changes in perception of someone’s looks before. Who hasn’t?! This was just a new-found appreciation for his features.

So the source of my new sense of thankfulness is that this quirk in my brain is multiplying the available eye candy surrounding me. This makes a visually oriented person quite happy. It seems there are few places I go these days where I do not see people who make people watching a delightful experience for me, instead of merely an interesting distraction.

Many would say that I am being superficial and perhaps even crass, but I am acknowledging and accepting that there is a significant part of me that is visually oriented. Like someone who appreciates touring a museum to see fine art, it provides me with joy on a regular basis.
For this, I am very thankful.