Finding the Voice [9.29.08]

Today's observation was found in what I deemed one of the most unexpected places - my snooze-fest of a psychology class. Sitting in the midst of my two-hour lecture class, my tool of choice to combat my exhaustion was Minesweeper. Everything in the real world was non-existent, while my new reality was planting bombs in a gray mine field. All of a sudden, I heard this booming voice come from above...or was it beside? My ears took a double-take...was that God? But wait - could God be asking the professor a question about child psychology? Pausing my game of Minesweeper, I went on the search of finding the booming God voice. It turns out that the person asking questions was not God revealing himself to my night class, but rather the very bassy student sitting behind me. Fortunately, the entire experience was in my head, so all possible embarrassment was eliminated. The one glitch in my sting operation is what I like to call the "mind-filter": it is the one boundary that keeps the embarrassing comments in, while it lets the relevant comments out. I firmly believe in the power of the mind-filter, and I can honestly say that I do not possess one today or any day prior. I turn around and say "Geez...do you know that your voice is BOOMING?!" "I guess", he awkwardly affirms. After what I had done, I realized that I shouldn't have said anything - curse that filter! But really, was it that terrible? After sharing this experience with some friends, it turns out that I was simply stating the obvious, so why the immediate embarrassment? Why does guilt ensue after an unspoken truth is spoken?