What Does “Level” Look Like?

Bubble Trivia Question # 1:  In the movie “The Bad Seed” (1956) Patty McCormick’s character was an 8-year old girl who was a whole-bubble off level.  What did she do that got people so upset with her?  (Answer at the end of the article)

While I was reading the Richmond Times-Dispatch this morning I noticed someone made a comment about “level heads” in reference to an upcoming decision making process.  “Ah,” I thought.  “How nice that Level is a legitimate term, not just my own personal buzz word.”

In the Richmond T-D instance, I’m pretty sure the writer was referring to good decision making.  The way I am using the term is broader.  I am equating the definition of Level with mental health.  A person who is “a half-bubble off level” is a little bit crazy.  A person who is a whole-bubble off level is a lot crazy. 

I do realize that “crazy” is not a scientific term.  However, that is often the term we use when we describe what other people think or do.  “What were you thinking when you signed a promissory note for Uncle Bob?  We’ll never see that money again!  Are you crazy?”  (translation:. at least a half-bubble off level, maybe even a whole-bubble off).

Both as a psychologist and as a Christian I have always been interested in the subject of mental health.  “Mental Health” is one of those terms that is very difficult to define.  Yet it is something that we all want for everybody, for a lot of reasons.  We seem to be able to recognize the off-level behaviors of others more easily than we can our own.

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
   To see oursels as ithers see us!

To a Louse, on seeing one on a lady’s bonnet at church. Robert Burns 

I came up with an analogy that is probably not the best one, but is the only one I can think of at the moment.  A person who breaks the law is a lawbreaker.  A person who frequently breaks the law is very likely to come to the attention of law enforcement authorities.  A person who doesn’t break the law will go un-noticed.

So it is with Level people.  Often we don’t notice them.  It is the off-level behaviors that we pay attention to.  We pay attention to them because those behaviors are our “red flags” that maybe the person isn’t trustworthy, and we should watch out for them. 

Before we can say with any certainty what Level looks like, we “need to look at Off-Level in all of its intriguing forms.   In the next blog we will begin our exploration of the definition of “Whole Bubble Off-Level.”

Answer to Bubble Trivia Question # 1:  She lured others to their death.  This is a very interesting movie.  It is not suitable for viewing by young children.