Balcony People & Basement People

Photo of New Orleans Balcony, March 2008 - Cheryl Cato

Are you a balcony person or a basement person? Our friends, Sally & Jim, were recently telling us about a book they had read titled "Balcony People and Basement People". In general there are two types of people with two very different agendas. First the Balcony People are the people who are supportive and encouraging toward others. The second are the Basement People who, as you may guess, pull us down, are negative, criticize, and most likely afraid of change, of trying something new.

On our drive to Austin this morning Gerald & I were discussing what our friends had told us. We have decided that (generally speaking) people who blog (at least the ones in with which I have come in contact) are Balcony People. We tend to encourage, discuss, suggest, assist those who visit our site and we theirs. Being a Balcony Person may be a prerequisite to becoming a Blogger. I for one am pleased with the reception I have received while being online. Everyone seems to offer such compassion and encouragement to others. It is a form of "pass it forward". Kindness begets kindness.

I looked up the article on the Internet and found it in association with the website bereavedparentsusa.org. A woman (Traci Cooley) wrote a short article about these two types of people in regards to dealing with the grief of losing someone. In it she says basement people criticize the way another person deals with grief, but a balcony person "pulls you forward and along the road of grief" and will be there for you & cry with you in your grief.

Sally & Jim did not put these two types of people into the context of grief, but look at it as an overall identification of people. So it is up to us to decide what kind of person we choose to be. Additionally, it is our choice with whom we wish to associate. I believe I'll choose Balcony People over Basement People any time.

Basement Photo by: Brenda Ann Kennally (from the Web)