Harriet and Lala... the Spies.

Inspired by the main character in my old children's book, Harriet the Spy, I grew up observing people and writing in my notebooks... and now, my blog :p

For those who haven't read the book yet, it's about an 11-year-old girl who writes about everyone she sees... the boy with the purple socks, Ol' Golly who is her lifelong nanny, her friends -- Sport and Janie, the man with hundreds of cats, the fat lady who does nothing but eat chocolates on her bed and speak on the phone, her enemy number one in school, and many others in her life who she encounters everyday in school or simply pry on in their private homes.

Note: All these are based on my memory and I am leaving room for mistakes especially in the spelling of some of the characters' names...

Going back, Harriet writes everything in her "Private" notebook which she carries with her whenever it's time to "spy" on people -- which is most of the time. And the reason why she does all these is because she wants to KNOW EVERYTHING.

I find Harriet ambitious. When I say ambitious, I use it as a positive description. Ambitions actually drive people towards their goal. And because of that, ambitious people are people who know what they want and do their best to reach their goals. But I guess we often place negative connotations to it especially in the Philippines when we hear the word in Filipino and how it is often used in old Tagalog movies...

Scene: Poor girl and rich girl fighting over a man. Rich girls says "Hindi ka niya mamahalin nang tulad ko. Isa ka lang ambisosya! Sampid ka lang, hampas-lupa!" ...

In Harriet's case, I am using the word ambitious in a positive light. Harriet is 11 years old. She knows what she wants -- from simple everyday stuff to her lifelong goals. Everyday, she likes to put tomatoes and mayonnaise in her sandwich. Someday, she wants to be a writer and to know everything.

Sometimes I remember Harriet out of the blue and dream that a part of me could be like her -- driven, always purposeful, and directed towards a single goal. She knows what she wants at the age of 11. My dreams all seem to be afloat right now. And I am 23. Take note: I said sometimes.

In the latter part of the story, Harriet's "Private" notebook turns "Public". Because most of the things she writes are harsh and critical, the lack of privacy for her "Private" notebook results to chaos. (Think: Simon Cowell trapped in an 11-year-old's body -- honest and brutal. If people chant "booh" to Simon for honestly criticizing the Americal Idol contestants, imagine people's reaction to Harriet for honestly criticizing them.)

I don't remember all the other specific changes at the end of the story but I do remember one of the relevant lessons in the story... that EVERYTHING CHANGES. Even Harriet's constant companion, her nanny, had to leave for Harriet to learn independence.

Harriet knows herself real well to the point of being too stubborn. Case in point, 24/7 her sandwiches had to be just tomatoes and mayonnaise. No pickles. No ham. No ketchup. Nothing else but tomatoes and mayonnaise. At first glance, she does know what she wants and what she doesn't want. And logically, she thinks she already knows who she is.

But then again, there is that possibility (and a more likely one) that Harriet doesn't truly know who she is. She thinks she does but she actually doesn't. Atleast not yet. She's actually scared that if she changed some of her daily habits, she would have changed as a person as well. What she does not yet know or perhaps think about is that she's beyond the label she has given herself. Her sandwiches don't define her. Her daily routines as a spy don't define her. Philosophy would tell us that she cannot be defined, at least not completely. And at the age of 11, that is something she has yet to discover among many things.

Such is life. It's beautiful because we keep on uncovering things each step of the way.

I guess we don't always get to learn everything we need to know in Kindergarten. Sometimes we learn from children's books too. I did.

Be ambitious. Dream, believe, and do. And always embrace changes.

Now, as for Lala the Spy... I am currently being trained as one.

No, actually, I'm training as an observer for a research project in Psychology... but the other one sounds more exciting ;-)

Besides, we basically do the same thing: inconspicuous observations.

MAY 22, 2006
Today, I finished the movie version of Harriet the Spy and would have to correct myself about the characters and some points in the storyline. The "big fat lady" I mentioned before who only stayed on her bed wasn't fat at all. She was thin and old who lived an unhealthy lifestyle on her bed. In the end of the story, she finally stood up and began to exercise.

Harriet, after being ostracized for writing down the harsh truth in her notebook, began to take revenge. But after hurting the others back, she didn't feel any better. Her parents confiscated her "Private notebook" but later learned that as parents, they would have to try to understand their children and accept things that their children love (as long as these aren't harmful).

Harriet saw Ol' Golly again when she visited. And learned that truth is beauty and beauty is truth... but sometimes a little "lying" is needed. Although there was a truth in that, the best lesson in the entire story was when Harriet learned to truly look and see beyond first impressions. By finding other angles, she saw and understood truth.

In the end of the story, Harriet fulfilled her dream as a writer and became the editor of their class paper by asserting her opinion. Because I'm such a cornball, I found myself teary-eyed watching the movie. And maybe because I found another part of myself in her. Thus, after Harriet did her retraction, I began mine. :-)