Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-08-15
LITTLE TALKS BY
BEA TRICE. FAIRFAX

If you happen to be one of those
girls who write to me under the
signature of "Heartbroken," De
spondent" or "Despairing'' make up
your mind that you are extremely
unlikely to find happiness if you
write yourself down in these un-
happy terms.
Thoughts are things" as wise
men have known from the begin
ming, and if you admit you are
"Heartbroken," "Despondent" or
"Despairing," and tag yourself with
these labels, YOU are deliberately
playing u losing game-and writing
your own death warrant.
Do not let your feelings run
away with YOU" If you indulge III
this sort of emotional spree you
Will have no more control over your
destiny than a leaf has over its
whlrIlng in a hurricane.
II you are at the beck and call
OF every feeling of joy, grief, love,
rear, hate, you become emotionally
intoxicated; nothing appears to you
at its face value. In this state OF
with life. Ordinary people and oc-
currences appear in the exaggerate
forms they present to the drug ad-
olct; nothing is real.
The emotions get the whip hand
ana they scourge their victim from
pillar to post. He is ''madly" in love
with this one or that. I'm enemy
seeks to destroy his good name or
MS complete understanding with a
friend. the world is against him.
and very naturally he is heart
broken" despondent and despair
ing.
Many young people pass the en-
tire period of adolescence in these
states of eXaltation or despairing
unreality and they fall in love, run
the entire gamut of emotional SEN
satlon, recover, then repeat the
operation with the next young mail
or woman with whom fate happens
to throw them.
Fail to Make a Success
1t is needless to say such people
are too much at the mercy of thei-
feelings ever to make a success of
life. They never stick to anything
or any one long enough to succeed.
Some grand opera emotion-love,
despair, hate. fear, jealousy, sus-
picion-is always driving them
along; they never stop long enough
to take deep root.
How does it come about, why is
every day life full of these stars"
whose glitter spoils the tranquility
of domestic life? I was discussing
this subject the other day with a
brilliant physician-a specialist IN
diseases of the mind-who is doing
notable work among the shellshock
victims of the war.
His theory is that such people
have certain amount of histrionlc
or artistic ability and that they con-
tinually live in parts" Such peo-
pie are apt to be excessive novel
readers, theatergoers, or move
fans" and they fit their lives to
stage, book or screen, rather than
reverse the process and fit stage,
book or screen to real life.
They think in terms of art and
frequently in the third person.
She dragged her weary form a few
PAGES. then crumpled up on a park
bench" this physician once heard
healthy-looking girl repeat to her
self quite audibly. And as he had
just seen her say goodby to a young
man, walk a few steps and sit on Il
park bench he joined her and began
to talk about her case"
She displayed no reluctance in
talking to him-he was all part of
the play" the play that, like clas-
sizes of the Chinese stage, goes on
for years and years.
The Gift of Delusion
She did not really care" about
the young man from whom she had
just parted, though she had deluded
herself into thinking she was mad"
about him, and was "heartbroken"
that he had said no goodby to her
and had declined her invitation to
spend the evening in her company
The physician asked her innumer-
able questions about the young
man, questions intended to elicit
her real feelings in regard to him.
She confessed he was "stingy," that
he was poorly educated" that she
hated his habit of breathing
|