Express Yourself!
I cannot think about or look at the words, “express yourself”, without following up with another, “’Spress Yourself!” like in the Charles Wright song. I’ll admit that most of the time I just mumble along to the words during the rest of the song and then yell out, “Spress Yourself!” whenever I think that part is coming up. Sometimes I come in right on time and sometimes I don’t. Doesn’t matter as long as I, “EXPRESS MYSELF”.
I work hard to express myself as fully as possible, but it can be difficult. I can’t draw but some people, like my lovely friend Rachelle, can express themselves beautifully through visual arts. I have friends who act in plays, friends that sing or do stand-up comedy. Friends who travel and make videos to express themselves. There are so many ways to shout out to the world, “I am Bre!” Or, “I am [insert your name here]!"
For me, writing happens to be my favorite medium to express myself, but I used to use humor quite a bit. I’m pretty good at laughing at myself and I enjoy a good joke. The thing is, when I laugh, my mouth opens wide so you can see all the way down into my stomach! Just kidding, but you can definitely see all my teeth and my laugh is pretty loud.
When I was in the 8th grade, a guy named Ryan who I had a crush on, turned around in his seat and told me that my laugh was the worst sound he’d ever heard. My heart broke into pieces and I thought I would never laugh again. I stopped talking and speaking up in class. I kept my jokes to myself and I made sure that whenever I was around Ryan I didn’t utter a peep. Then I watched a movie with Julia Roberts in it and man when she laughed, she LAUGHED! All her teeth were showing and her head was thrown waaay back. It was awesome! Then, I saw a movie with Gabrielle Union and she laughed big and happy too! Her cheeks rose up like apples and her smile shined through the screen, lighting me up.
By that time, I’d long been out of classes with Ryan and was entering high school. It took me a while to embrace my laugh and a lot of other things about me, but now it’s one of my favorite ways to express myself along with my writing. Now I think that if I’m only ever remembered for my laugh and the way I make other people laugh, that’s OK with me.
However you express yourself, do it loud and proud 🙂
SPRESS YOURSELF!
Bre
