I did it. After months of people emailing me, seeing me in person, or chiding me on Facebook and telling me I needed to post a picture on my Facebook page, I finally did! I wanted to use a picture of my beloved dog, Max, but I did not know how to load his picture. My daughter-in-law accomplished what no one thought would ever happen. Thank you, D-I-L!
Now to the picture. It is a picture of my alter (not altar) ego, Patty, the Clown. I love Patty, the Clown, because she gets to be her real self. She gets to do dumb stuff like fall down with great exaggeration and clean her underarms with a giant toothbrush. Her hair never needs hairspray and the huge comb she pretends to tend her coiffure with never helps the frizz at all. She makes children laugh and she gets people to do things without ever saying a word. She just smiles.....or frowns.....or looks confused (that one is really easy).....or acts goofy and no one thinks anything of it. Her favorite part of her 'schtick' is when she puts her hands on her hips, wrinkles her brow, and tap-tap-taps her over-sized shoes in feigned impatience.
We all need a Patty, the Clown, in our lives. The persona we can adopt that gets away with outrageous actions and no one thinks twice about. The persona that models behavior based on memories from kindergarten. The persona that allows a person to act like a three-year old even though that age is more than a half-century past. The persona that lets you touch people on the head with a big, foam mallet and they laugh and giggle.
Now that I think about it, I have other alter egos that come out to play every now and then. My dancer-alter ego just made her appearance today on my early morning walk. When I get back into the condo, after a walk, I cannot bring myself to shut off my i-pod and so every task, for a while, is completed rhythmically while the music is pulsing into my brain. Even emptying the dishwasher can be fun!
Who is your alter ego? If you don't have one that you'll publicly identify, think about declaring yours today. It's never too late to have fun!
Ancora imparo
