The soul's window

I wanted to follow on from the last post by adding that it occurred to me that we spend a lot of time contemplating how we appear to other people, rather than concentrating on what they see inside us. The eyes are supposedly the window to the soul - do people look into my eyes and see that they are affirmed and accepted or do they see my insecurities and desire to be loved? I've been thinking seriously about character lately and how our society places so much emphasis on how success is defined by the outward indications rather than the hidden development shaped by experience. If we think of our circle of close friends - were we drawn to them because of their physical appearance or because of their character and the qualities that they exude?
I spent Saturday night with some of my favourite people celebrating my birthday. It doesn't seem to matter which particular selection of friends I spend time with, there is always laughter and a sense of belonging, of being in the right place. It doesn't matter that these friends (you know who you are!) decided that following a rendition of Happy Birthday it would be an excellent idea to applaud me, with a single clap for each year of my life. They counted them. 33. In the middle of the restaurant. Thanks guys! Still I didn't hold it against them, I rewarded them with this amazing fact - the actor who is currently playing Pauline Fowler's new husband in Eastenders is the same man who used to narrate Mr Benn - amaze your friends with that!
It's so good to be blogging again, I have a back log of stuff I want to write about so I'm sure I'll be on here again soon!