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Be Your Authentic Self


The nerd in me wishes they had this same quote but with Danny Devito saying it.


See, my real introduction to Shakespeare came in the form of the classic movie: Renaissance Man starring Danny Devito, Mark Wahlberg, the guy from A Bronx Tale, and Dionne from Clueless. There are a bunch of other actors that when I re-watch, I inevitably go: "Oh yeah! They were in (insert movie of random character)."


And that, my friends is my first and penultimate example of my ADD. Referencing movies for big life situations. Connecting events and movies to characters and the actors that play them.


My sisters and I are forever using movie quotes. For everything.

  • Bored? I'll start singing "I just don't know what to do with myself" as if I'm Cameron Diaz from My Best Friend's Wedding.

  • Hungry? Suddenly I'm Fat Bastard from Austin Powers, yelling "Get in my Belly!"

  • Things change on a dime? Welp, clearly we're tossing out "Toe Pick!" (It's from the DB Sweeny and Moira Kelly phenom Cutting Edge where the injured hockey star because a figure skater.)


Sports movies are great for one liners. When my son was being bullied for being weird, I pulled from the movie The Sandlot, hitting him with "weirdos get remembered." Also, everyone knows "You're killing me, Smalls!"


And then, I've been known to dig deep. Find the truly obscure references from the classics and rom-coms and British flicks I love.


We play a game where one of us will throw a movie quote out and the others have to guess where it's from.


Okay, this post isn't just going to be about movies and movie quotes. It's really about how at 39 years old, I've learned to accept things about myself that aren't great, or common/normal. There are things that I do which REALLY piss people off.

Eh. I can live with that (usually).


What are some of these things?

  • I'm probably not my kids "safe space" the way a lot of society forces moms to be. Fugh that! I'm a person. And while I allow them to be frustrated with me, they are not allowed to be douche canoes to me. I like to remind them that they wouldn't treat a friend, a friend's parent, a teacher, etc like that... then I'm'a NOPE that treatment for myself. I do a helluva lot more for them than a teacher-- I refuse to accept subpar treatment.

    • Clarification: My kids are not allowed to disrespect their teachers. That's not what I'm saying. So in essence, I'm requiring them to be respectful in general.

  • Quick to cut. After 35, I stopped giving multiple chances to people. I love the saying "stop swimming oceans for someone who won't puddle jump for you."

  • Don't muck up my schedule. Seriously. I try to be flexible, but if you've requested that I be the person to plan something, I expect you to honor my time.

  • My family says my brain is an excel spreadsheet. That's how I process information most of the time.

  • I'll say no if something doesn't sound appealing. I don't play the mind reader's game. If you ask what I want to eat, I'll give you a straight answer (typically hamburgers or tacos) OR I'll say I don't care. This isn't a ploy. I truly don't care.

  • I read schmutt. I write schmutt. I love the HEAs and the banter and the spice. If that's not your jam, cool. There's another 80% of the bookstore or library that should have something you do enjoy.

    • I don't like mysteries. I don't like a lot of Non-fiction. If I do read NF, it's probably a memoir of a person I liked already. Sometimes those surprise me and I realize the subject is NOT who I expected but usually I like to hear people tell their own stories anyways. Memoirists just have a venue to get those out to more people.

    • I do like YA fantasy. I love historical fiction from a woman's perspective. I will read daym near anything about Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, or the Medieval times.

  • I don't concern myself with other people's lives very much. This means I don't have a lot of gossip, but it also means I tend to not know what other people are doing or interested in. My husband will ask me how different family members are and, unless I've talked to them in the last few days, I'll just say, "I don't know." He'll try follow up questions, but I just don't know. I've learned that my list of HAVE TO's is long enough that I need to be concerned about those 95% of the time. The other 5% might be where I try to keep up with people lives, but ultimately, I can't manage to do that too well.

    • This is also considered an issue with Object Permanence. I've forgotten people exist until I'm reminded and then I'm like "oh yeah! I should call them!"


How do I learn more about myself?

Well, I like to listen to podcasts that offer information about life. About a person. My favorites are:

  • Happier Podcast with Gretchen Rubin. She has several episodes about how to learn more about yourself.

  • Harry Potter and the Sacred Text: The hosts read each chapter of all seven books with various themes. They talk about how the theme shows up in that week's episode. They work through various religious practices like Sacred Imagination, PaRDeS, Lectio Divina, Havruta, Florilegia, Marginalia, and Four Reliances. I on't always agree with each of their takes on certain topics, but it's helped me be open to other's opinions in a way that I haven't always been before.

  • Queens Podcast. Katie & Nathan bring to life women in history. We all know about Henry the Eighth. We've heard about his wives. But did you ever stop to think that maybe the people telling their stories were... men? And maybe their versions weren't entirely accurate? There's a saying that history is written by the victors. I think there's more to it than that. History has been written by the victorious MEN. Women haven't been given the dignity of acknowledging their actual birthdays a lot of the time! So maybe we overlook the strong language and innuendos and listen to these two incredible people shine a light on BadAss Women in History!

  • The Exploress. More information about historical times. Kate Armstrong gives us details in women's lives, how history and events impacted society AND women--collectively and individually.


Those are the big ones I listen to each week. I also love I Mom so Hard, but that's so I feel like I'm not alone in this chaotic rollercoaster that is parenthood!


This rambling diatribe is brought to you by ADD!


Is there a real reason for this post aside from the initial line telling you to be authentically you?

No.


Not at all! lol But I hope this made you chuckle, had some fun resources, and --if you're like me--maybe not feel so alone.


 
 
 

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