Pollyanna's prisms

I am a scientist. Those who meet me outside of the scientific realm are usually surprised to learn this about me. (I guess my attempts to act normal are successful.) Like many people, once I became a real grown-up I started trying to remember any events from my childhood that could be seen as foreshadowing what I would become. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a teacher and/or a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. In high school I wanted to be a diplomat, international journalist and world traveller. It was not until I was a sophomore in college that I accepted the truth, that I was destined to be a scientist.

But there were signs early on, and it was not long ago when I realized that among these things are Pollyanna's prisms. To be honest, I never read the real Eleanor Porter book (although I did buy it recently and it's on Simone's bookshelf). I also never saw the Disney movie. But what I did read was the Little Golden Book based on the Disney movie which is based on Eleanor Porter's book. My grandparents had this at their house (which according to melkozee on eBay was published in 1960 and is now "hard to find.")

Pollyanna has become a name for people who are, at best, wide-eyed optimists, and at worst, naively annoying. What I remember about her are the prisms.

Prisms are magical. They turn ordinary light into rainbows. Pollyanna came across some prisms - I don't remember the details and in an effort to stay true to my little-girl self I won't look it up. All I remember is that there was some cranky old person who had them and did not find them at all interesting, but when Pollyanna got her hands on them she was absolutely delighted by them. I believe there was some other cranky old person that was also sick, and she took the prisms to the sickroom and hung them in the windows to create rainbows all around the room.

I get a little weepy just thinking about it. I am so glad I read that book as a little girl. Pollyanna was a lot like Anne Frank, who both always believed that people are good at heart. I believe this too. It is not easy to believe, and in fact I think it is a conscious choice I've made to live my life thinking this is true.

But back to the prisms. After I graduated from college I went on to get my PhD in chemistry. My research and studies focused on the field of spectroscopy. Spectroscopy, as in spectrum, as in the colors of the rainbow. I've used many a prism to cast rainbows as a grown-up and I'm delighted every. single. time. Pollyanna was right, and I can't believe that twenty or so years passed before I put two-and-two together.

I would not consider myself a Pollyanna. I am not a naive optimist. Many things I've wanted in life have been hard-won and not easy in the slightest. In fact there have been many times in my life that I would have told Pollyanna where she could go with those prisms if she had tried to convince me that everything is wonderful if you just look at it the right way.

But I would say that she formed the connection in my mind between science, magic, and the goodness of people. My belief in those three things is maybe the most important thing there is to know about me.