The Washington herald., 1916-11-17
Spots in the Consciousness
BY JOHN ID. BARRY.

quaintance, while spending the summer
at their place at the seashore. met a
tragedy. One OF the daughters. q very
beautiful and accomplished girl, about IS
years old, while swimming within sight
Of the front window, was seized with a
cramp and. before she could be reached,
was drowned. The family at once returned
TO their home in the city and stayed
there for the rest OF the summer. The
next year, as summer approached, they
discussed what they should do. They
all said they could never go back to the
old place, they would be so tormented by
the thought Of the accident there. all
but the father. After listening to the
talk he said:
Wen go back We must not have that
place spoiled for us. And, what 10 more
important, We mustn't let II be an un-
healthy spot in our minds.
So they went back. During the nrst
few weeks. II was hard for them Often
the wound was reopened. But gradually
they began to love the place as they had
done before. In the end. they were glad
they had gone back. 'Tt would have been
a pity always to think OF that place with
horror. wouldn't it7" said one Of the
daughters in telling me the story. TT
was very wise Of father"
Il hope 1 shall never see the place or
the people again"
The woman who said the words in my
presence had spent several unhappy years
in the community she spoke of. Her
life had been a failure there. Whether
the fault was hers or the other peoples
or the physical conditions OF the place
It would be, 1 think, wholly superfluous
to discuss, the real point being that the
woman was foolish enough to allow a
painful experience to become a bitter and
termenting memory. The place and the
people were like a dark. unhealthy room
in her consciousness where germs thrive
the most hideous OF all germs, none the
less alive and active because unseen,
creating unhappiness and nervous and
moral disease.
who made her first appearance in New
York a good many years. ago and met
disaster At the close of her brief season
she decided to return TO London She
hated the city so much that she went out
t. a hotel in Brooklyn for the few days
when she should have to wait for her
steamer to sail On the way to the steam
er, as she passed through the New York
streets. she kept the shades of her car
rage down. On going aboard she went
straight to her stateroom and stayed
there till the ship was well out OF the
harbor
The unhappy lady thought It was the
sight Of New York that tormented her
But she was making her failure there
spoil New York for her and making It
turn New York into a horror.
Incidentally. she was preparing New
York 10 be a plague spot in her conscious
ness for years, perhaps for the rest OF
her days
Nearly all OF US have plague spots In
our consciousness. We are inclined to
tHnnfffv rN4sI IL
known. But to the real places they bear
only distant relation. To some people
these real places are beautiful, made so
by healthy thinking
When we hate a place the chances are
that the cause lies not in the place but
in ourselves. A similar remark may be
made when we hate the people that live
in the place. Just as in peoples words
you can't indict a nation. so you can't
indict a place or a community. And yet
this kind Of indicting goes on all the
time. One often hears places and COM
munities roundly abused by those who
live in them or have lived in them in
the past, where not only excellent people
but where the physical aspect is beauti-
full. The talk may serve to remind US
of the pitiful readiness we show to make
pictures that render the consciousness
ugly and hard to live with.
Years ago 1 received a letter from a
young man trying to make his way in a
great city. He was not prospering, and
he took his situation hard. Most Of his
letter was devoted to abusing the city
One might have thought tina. the streets
the buildings. the very atmosphere were
responsible for his state of mind
Years afterward / saw him again In
the city he had so vigorously abused. He
was successful now and happy This is
the greatest place in the world to live
in" he said.
Just as he had identified the city with
his failure he now identified it with his
success. But il he had not been so buried
in himself he would have been able to ap-
preciate the charms Of his city long be-
fore success helped him to open his eyes
It is well for us now and then to remind
ourselves that we are our own Landscape
architects. We ourselves make our world
beautiful or ugly. When we hear state
ments of this kind we are tempted &c
make denial or a protest. What? 1t
doesn't make any difference what haT-
pens to US or whether our surroundings
are ?" The rest is familiar
enough. Yes. it does make a difference.
But the difference lies in the way we
accept what happens. in what we let it do
to US. We can be Influenced in a way
that is unhealthy or healthy. We can
turn evil into good and good into evil.
II we are only egotistical enough We can
meet a small misadventure and let It blot
out the beauty of the whole world. II
we are free enough from egotism. IL we
are really big and fine. We can meet a
great misadventure and profit by it and
still look out on world that is fair. that
has perhaps become fairer than It was
before through a finer quality in our
vision.