A: Motivation, encouragement, being yourself with no excuses, and getting fired up! That’s what! For those of you who are wondering how these fit together, let me fill you in! I went to Wilma Dykeman’s memorial service today at Diana Wortham Theater in Asheville. We honored her memory and legacy today, about 300 of her friends and admirers. Wilma was outspoken and lovely in her lifetime, and took multiple stands for justice and power. She was herself, with no apologies.
So the real motivating factor came from a letter from Wendel Berry to Dykeman’s family, talking about the time that he first really talked to Wilma, and how she said something really nice about his lecture that he had given. He told her, “Thanks. You are being really sweet.” And she said, “no, I’m being honest!”
Well, that may not seem like much to some, but here was a woman, all 86 years of her life, she spent being her. Her motto was to live the life as “i think, i like, i am” instead of worrying about how it might affect other people.
So, impressionable little ole’ me, all 28 years young, heard that, and thought, long and hard for all of 30 minutes, thinking about how I’ve always wanted a nose ring (how silly of a want, I know) but was too afraid of hearing about it from other folks. I’ve worried about what my mom would say, or someone from work, or etc. instead of just doing what I wanted to do. It’s a microscopic hole in my nose that can heal back at anytime. It’s not really about the nosering, but more about giving a big fat finger to worrying about what other people think. As if a small ring in my nose could keep me from doing my job.
So there, Roan. And there, everybody who’s got a problem with it.
……………Okay, though, having said that, I really do wish that it had been a lot smaller of a ring. I took it out, hoping to put in the tiny little stud, but couldn’t get it back in. So now I have the ring back in with no ball on it, hoping that I can go back tomorrow and he can fix it. I really wanted a stud only, but he talked me into the ring, saying that it would be more sanitary and heal quicker with less chance of disease. Let’s cross our fingers and hope that they can fix it up tomorrow morning, to where it’s more igcognito and less punk-rockish!
