Heart and Home Chats

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 688, 13 June 1929, Page 4

Heart and Home Chats

By

Anne Ru

.Miss Anne Rutledge tv ill answer letters in this column every Thursday. An accomplished writer. an ardent feminist , a student of human nature and a wide traveller 3 she is well fitted for the task. Those who have problems and lack a confidante to help in their solution may with confidence write to Miss Rutledge , whose knowledge will be placed at their disposal. .-1 sympathetic woman, she will assist those who stand in need of assistance. Communications for Miss Rutledge should be addressed to THE SUN office.

“THE BEAUTY THAT WAS GREECE” ■ Dear Miss Rutledge: I should like your opinion on the following question: Was the culture that belonged to Greece and Rome shared by the masses? Perhaps you can also tell me if you think that we New Zealand people, as a nation, are progressing in an artistic sense? Do we, in our feeble attempts at self-expression, really subscribe to anything that will live, typifying the real spirit of New Zealand? ART. AXSWER To quote AVendel Phillips: “The beauty that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome” were exclusive, the possession of the few. The science of Egypt was amazing; but it meant privilege—the privilege of the king and the priest. It separated royalty and priesthood from the people, and was the engine of oppression. When Cambyses came flown from Persia and thundered across Egypt treading out royalty and priesthood, he trampled out at the same time civilisation itself. Of course New Zealand people are progressing, but we are young in a national sense. Although far from the centres of art, ancient and modern, time will show that our efforts at self-expression will embody a form of artistic quality symaS2 r Tv!? 6 ’ °r pen s P a ces, our large htaits and sense of sportsmanship. For the present, aesthetic art is but a fledgtlndve 1 ° UI rnidst ' yet it: must and will

The inspired few who are seeking to express the harmonious quality of beautv aie beginning to feel their feet,” and more, but lack of encouragement and i the eealisation that a prophet speeds Them°oru “ h ‘ S land -” w?U to atte - pt « AXXE RUTLEDGE DON’T MAKE ENEMIES! Dear Miss Rutledge: 1 have a very inquisitive neighbour, who is constantly criticising me behind my back. She watches my movements through her windows, and spreads irritating rumours about my business down the street. Is there a

remedy for such a - person? Kindly advise NEIGHBOUR. ANSWER tie had need rise betimes who would please everybody. However much you feel aggrieved about the situation, dont make an enemy of this neighbour. Good it. is to have a hundred or more friends, ! but one enemy is one too many. It is hard to tolerate a neighbour who plays “peeping Tom*' from behind th® curtains, especially as she is usually the person to start a rumour, and like a vagrant without a home, rumour lives upon what it can “pick up." Strange to say, however, rumour is not as unwelcome as most other vagrants, as it is frequently well-fed, and its company smugly enjoyed. So treat the matter with small concern , and be far too busy in your daily life to allow it to count. Remember that there is always somebody ready to criticise you, no matter what you do. » you dressed quietly “that somebody would say you were dowdy; if your husband is naturally one of “Pharaoh’s lean kind,” she would probably say you hau* starved him, or “wore the trousers. Be careful always to please yourself, and those near and dear to you, whose good opinion you value. If you spent a lifetime trying to please the multitude as is,” you probably would be laughed at for your folly and pains. Remember that life is a great same^and TOO MUCH RESERVE j Dear Miss Rutledge: I am a young married woman with s one little girl, and I would like to make friends with people about me. but cannot on account of my very rei served nature. It is a dreadful draw* 1 back, and I should like to overcome it for the sake of my little girl, as I ‘ think it would be a pity for her to ! grow up the same way. DOWNHEARTED. j A .VSW ER Take this answer out in the sunshine. ; and throw open vour mind, to your r®a» 1 heritage. Why bind your eyes witn, a i swathing of reserve. The pastime or i “Blind Man's Bluff ' is typical of the way j we blunder through this worid with Perception dimmed and with hesitant grop- ! ing, thus sentencing ourselves to suiter : needlessly. Think of the happiness you give for n when greeting a friend with smiling ; and any of the hundred and one piea~- ! antries that delight the person- Society » ! a “joint stock” company, so give yojr \ privileges an airing, and banish anytniw that does not subscribe to the love 9: happy and intelligent service to tno*» • you w Regarding your little daughter, tearn ; her to realise that she expresses the tues of our creation such as hapP ine ®**: , abundance, and true fellow feeling ' one another, which is the best kind o t friendship. Enc«firage her to taxe ‘ active part in school fellowship, and *" | vite her playmates to the home as inuo« as is reasonably possible. ANNE RUTLEDGE.