Thursday, February 12, 2009

Own it, Embrace it

I am a robot, and I don't mean it in a good way this time. I am a robot because sentimentality can make me super uncomfortable. I had to write something today just so I didn't have to look at my Syd Riggs show post any more, because I have trouble owning it, if you will. Do you know what it means to "own it?" It reminds me of when I was a kid and I was nervous about wearing my new hot pink Converse hi-tops to school and my mom said to me, "If YOU think you look good, then everyone else will, too." And that is a life truth. It's true in many areas, even improv. If you start singing a crazy improv song and you believe that it's the best crazy improv song ever made up, then the audience will be right there with you. THAT'S owning it. When I go to the store with all four of my kids and half of them are screaming, and the other half are fighting, you just have to smile and own it, man, because what is your other option? To run away and cry and hide?

However, when it comes to the mushy stuff, I tend to shy away. I've always been like that. As a toddler, if you asked me for a hug, I would pinch your arm and make a grunting noise. I guess I figured that the illusion of a hug would keep the person happy and I would get out of it with the least amount of physical contact possible. When my girl friends in high school would bawl at girls' camp or something, I would try to make myself cry to fit in. But I didn't like it. I've gotten a lot better at hugging and crying. Being around artistic types all the time, I've had to become a hugger--it's just one of the rules of that world. I've also learned you kind of have to be ok with being vulnerable if you don't want to be the lamest actress in town. But it's different if you're playing a character on stage. My blog is not a character I'm playing, but an extension of myself (it even talks just like me), and so I feel super vulnerable busting out the cheese.

Now, because I'm tired of talking about all that sappy stuff, I want to talk about "embracing" things about oneself. Embracing is like owning, but owning is usually for positive attributes, while embracing is used for the not so awesome ones. For example, two years ago, I chose to embrace my pasty whiteness. I no longer put my face in the sun, and I try to avoid shorts and I don't care if I blind people at the pool. It's who I am, and I'm not going to have skin cancer, suckas! Last year, I decided to embrace my flat-chestedness. I don't have much to say about that, except sometimes I think I really do look better in some clothes having no chest. The important thing is that I have embraced it. 2009 will be the year of the boo-tay. I'm already off to a good start because when I was at the gym the other day, some rabbi on Rachael Ray said this gem: "To the eyes, thin is in. But to the hands, meat is neat." Thank you, Rabbi--I feel somewhat validated (never mind that his clever quip contradicts 2008's personal accomplishment.) He also convinced me to be more mysterious to my husband and now Ben teases me, "Ooh, you're so mysterious today..." and I say, "Why thank you..." Some day, I will have to embrace the fact that I am a disorganized slob trapped in a neat freak's body--that year will not be pretty.

That is clearly enough rambling for today. But now you are all distracted from my prior cheesiness, and you're thinking about owning your new haircut and embracing your lisp. You're welcome.

P.S. Everyone in second grade got Converse hi-tops that year...

18 comments:

bionictrout said...

Neat freak's body?

Hailey said...

Meaning, I have the desire to have cleanliness all around me, just not the know-how--capiche?

Kristen said...

I am totally not a hugger (with people other than my kids and Aaron). I don't mind, I like it ok, I just don't go to hug people unless they hug me first. I always use spf after I learned the hard way about 3rd degree sun burns causing major skin damage. Flat chestedness is the best. Seriously makes you look thinner. And I you couldn't have said it any better about the environmental mess. My house would be so clean if only I lived in it. I haven't embraced that yet though either.

Can you guess the movie? "That's me! ...Me, me, me, also me... I am really close on this one. Really really close." (One of my fav movies.) We are sistas from another misses.

Michelle Catherine Walker said...

You're gorgeous. And, apparently crazy for having to "embrace" what is already great! I will TOTALLY go to the pool and blind people with you this summer.

And yeah, my last sappy post made me feel naked. Naked and like people were staring. Not a really good feeling to have on the inside. Thanks fam who didn't comment! You guys are awesome!

Unknown said...

that was a great post. :)

I'll never hug you again.

- Will


Ps. I'll probably still hug you.

Hailey said...

I read this post again this morning and thought, "Wow, Hailey, your dad reads this stuff." TMI, Dad?

Hailey said...

Also, Kristen, it sounds familiar, but what is it? I'm dying to know.

Yes, Michelle, naked! It's awkward.

No worries, Will, no worries

Does anyone actually go back and see if the author responded to their comment? I do, if I remember.

Mindy Gledhill said...

Uh oh. I hug people a barely know way too much. I think I might have made you feel awkward a time or two.

Kristen said...

Bill Murray, Groundhog Day

J Bakerz said...

Amen

Shawn said...

GREAT post, Hailey!

Yes, I am proud of you making those pink high tops your own---and I continue to do that in my own life, as you well know...(well, with my style, not my pink high tops)

AS for the hugging part----you were NEVER cuddly---you just didn't have the time! Oh, the stories that I could tell!

But, I am proud of your decisions to embrace those things about you that the rest of us all love about you----it makes you just all the more lovable.

(Did that even come out right?)

Mandee said...

I would love to embrace and own my flat chestedness... so, how do I do that? Do I get rid of my padded bras?

Michelle Catherine Walker said...

we ARE food soul sisters! We need a thai food GNO!

Anonymous said...

Yes, Hailey did think that the hug was the sound uttered by the hugger not the gesture itself. We all thought it was cute then. She actually hugs sometimes now even if no sound emanates from the hugger.

Anonymous said...

Hailey,

You were also a trend setter in high school. You attracted many who wanted to be like you because, not only were you very talented, but you were nice to everyone and you always had something nice to say about everyone.

Betina said...

Thanks for the "own it" part. I need to do this more when I take all the children to any public place. More often than not it turns into a fiasco and I want to run and hide in shame. OWN IT.
Thanks!

HaLaine said...

Ha! First you crack me up cause I totally went for the hug today. Ha! I have had to embrace hugging too.
Embrace and Own shall perhaps be my new mantra...

HaLaine said...

I actually just wrote "embrace hugging" right next to each other in a sentence. Sorry about that.