I Am the Only "Me" on Earth

(This outfit is hideous. I will be dressed in something fabulous.)

Did you ever really stop and think about that? You are the only “you.” That is just wild! Wherever you are sitting, standing, laying down, squatting, you are the only person living in that space. (Note how I say “person” as I am fully aware that various flora and fauna are with you, underground, around you, always)

Yep-you’re it. I read once, that it is vital that people be better for you entering a room, and not dread your arrival. I don’t know if this is always true. What if the room you are entering, is filled with judgmental a-holes? (Oh, I’ve been in those rooms, and I’ve worked in a place where my only safe haven was my immediate co-workers)

Wait, this was supposed to be a positive post. Or, at least, that was my intent when I started writing this morning. (Damnit-here she goes again, about to talk about her debut book and her Book Launch-could we stop with that already?) So, I have a book launch coming up. The first venue has an itinerary that I just love. The second venue has informed me that I will “have a table near the front of the store and people will just wander over.”

Will they? Would I wander over to a complete stranger behind a table. Hell, no! It’s like I’ll be selling Girl Scout cookies, but without the cookies as the draw! I am (shhhh…tell no one) going to do things my way.

Story of my life-when I do things my way, there could be: a kerfuffle, a complete disaster, or a glorious moment when we are all in it together when I’m so glad I banished the censor and was “me.” I am hoping for the latter outcome. Time will tell.

Who is this censor anyway? Is it my inner voice? Is it society at large telling me “you are a nobody?” Well, I’ve actually had a Literary Agent tell me that, in those words. That was special. (dagger to the heart)

I am not a nobody. I am the only “me” on the Earth. Does that make me “special” or any other superlative? Well, I didn’t say that, did I? I am simply stating the obvious, and with that statement, reminding myself, and hopefully all of my readers, that this is it. As someone (who was it??) said, “This is not a dress rehearsal.” This is life. This is your life, my life, and I am coming out from behind the table. (Now, I don’t know the quality of the table, so I’m not going to stand on it-Let’s not get crazy!)

I do not think “the lines of life” are my friends. (You know that old commercial about some stupid car where the narrator says in a robotic voice, “Stay within the lines, the lines are your friends.”) I get why there are “lines.”

One of my daughter’s Art Camp teachers (brilliant man) said, “Keep drawing your line. Do not erase. If you erase, you will just keep making that same mistake over and over. If you continue drawing lines, eventually, you will hit on the one you need, because you will have reference lines for what not to do. Once you have the line you want, erase all the others.”

Isn’t that brilliant life advice?! And with that, I do not apologize for “my lines.” I am simply “drawing” them until I hit the right one. Behind the table? Wrong line. Doing a spontaneous reading from my book-right line. Maybe a little high-quality speaker along with the Playlist/Soundtrack of my life in the years of the memoir…that feels like the right line.

Perhaps I should include some boxes of Girl Scout cookies to ensure people come up to the lady drawing her own lines. Ha/ha

Thank you for reading my piece today. Who is your “censor?” How do you banish them so that you can (Kudos to The Army for the next phrase) “Be, all that you can be?” Drop me a line below, and remember please to hit the heart even if you just open my piece. Yes, I hope that you read it, that you leave me a comment, that you engage with me, but if you can’t or choose not to, that’s okay too. Keep drawing your lines and I will do the same.