Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1931-09-04
DRABNESS
THAT LIES
WITHIN
1900:
By FANNIE HURST
10 BY Mcclure Newapaper syndicate,

"
(0 by Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate,)
tWNU Servce.l
T|HERE is an all too large pro-
portion of human beings who
find life dull business.
Certain definite conditions Of
our civilization contribute to that pa
thetic end and help bring about the
sin and the shame of 1t. Life, so
short at its best, should be, if the lit
tie Observation-Disclosures is
at all merciful, an interval crowded
with light. But we go ahead and
cram man into the sometimes too
tightly fitting shoe of civilization,
cramp him mentally and physically in
to routine work, stultify his magma
ton by crucifying him on the cross
Of day-by-day stark reality and I'M
less the Individual develops the pow
err and glory Of resistance to mere ex-
ternals, the result is dangerously apt
to be drab.
Nor is this quality of DARKNESS nee
essarily confined to special social
planes. 1t can hang In a pail over
the rich and poor alike Conspire as
all these eternal conditions Of society
may, against the individual, 1t is I'M
doubtedly a matter which lies within
his power whether he will succumb
or resist the deadliness Of finding life
drab.
AS matter Of fact, even though so
many of our lives seem timed and
classified, the way out is via the in
tellect, more than through release
from routine But the difficulty lies
in its obviousness.
There Is certain experiment which
is commonly practiced on college
classes in psychology. The professor
holds up a chart containing various
pictures, sentences, figures, objects,
characters and colors. The class is
permitted to gaze upon the chart for
the period Of a moment or two and at
the end of that time each member re-
cites what he has seen.
The almost invariable result is a
fine commentary upon the varying de-
gree of thOrOughness with which in
dlviduals observe. The majority Of
the class usually observes minimum.
Some few have been alert to most Of
the objects, colors and characters, but
only select minority really sees in
detail and with power of observation
the contents of the chart.
Life can he drab because most of us
are so busy missing the most of 1t,
the aspect Of 1t that Is free for all.
The adventure of the adventure that
lies In our reach; the excltment of
curiosity. The desire to know. In
tellectual curiosity, meaning the de-
sire and the vitality and the interest
to delve into every minute aspect of
life that presents itself, Is the gate
way to experience. Practically all the
great figures Of history have been
blessed with it. To Caesars, Napole-
Ons. Roosevelts, life cannot be COM
monplace, because so little appears to
them as commonplace. Vigorous, seek
ing minds are not easily bored.
It Is fair to assume that just as
much Of life is lying about US in our
daily routine, as there is compressed
between the leaves of books. Anyway
1t is worth seeking, and the way to
seek is to take nothing for granted.
A subway jam contains enough Of
the possibility of adventure to blow
up New York harbor Scratch the Gu
ticle Of your desk neighbor and you
will find the mystery Of pulsating,
desiring. planning schemlng human
being. Intellectual curiosity about
people, places, street scenes, books,
and above all, the desire to study and
know the people who happen to be
inhabiting this planet called earth,
during your same interval here, SIM
ply will not permit life to become
drab.
That must be why the sort Of hui
man beings In whom you are impelled
to confide your difficulties, problems,
amours, seem always SO filled with a
certain power and strength. They are
interested In people. They command
confidence by wanting 1t. Nobody Is
just a person. Men and women are
peoplel Exciting, problematlc, subtle,
dangerous. appealing, provocative,
magnetic. repellent, alluring and hui
man. And In the midst of this melee
Of the excitement of being human
among humans, each of us Is prlvi-
legged to live his life. Just around
the corner Is no more to me, than It is
to you. The unknown turks there for
one and for all. Intellectual curios
lty Is a magic carpet which can whlsk
YOU out of yourself, and yet how an.
palIing. when one stops to consider,
the iethargy toward life that falls to
the lot Of so many. The books that are
never opened. The condolences that
are never given or received. The
friendships that are never made be-
cause two particular human beings
had not the curiosity to want to
knOwl
When 1t is said of a man that he is
good mixer II usually means that
his life Is crammed with interests of
various sorts. Who wants to know
people. because he knows that within
them lies the secret Of keeping life
quick with interest. He does not find
life drab, chiefly because he Is not
drab. The same applies to the light
that Hes In the eyes Of the bookworm.
Strange thrills are his. strange reac-
tlOns to beauty, because he has had
he curiosity to go seeking them.
It Is not only to those destined to walk
II places or TO roam the world that