Girls is interesting to me even though I am past that quarter life stage in my life, it reminds me of a young version of Sex and The City. Just my luck, I was too young for Sex and The City when it began airing. I was a teenager in high school, I watched it through the finale while I was in college and it always seemed like advice from my older sisters(If I had any) If it aired now it would have been more appropro for my age box. Although I can still learn from its lessons, I have all the seasons and watch the reruns on E!. And now they have this awesome show about the Quarter Life of women that is so Sex and The City-esque with less designer fashion, with more poverty, reality, and quirky personalities and I am about five years outside of the age box of these girls. But I remember being young and out of college like Lena Dunham and her crew, I was less bohemian and artsy and more working as hard as I could at multiple jobs while starting my career. Yes my friends before Gertie was a superhero she used to sling cocktails, beers, and she's a retired sindustry professional. You learn more about me week by week.
Back to the article about personal mythologies, the topic at hand was basically that we actualize personal myths and create them as our own reality even though they can be negative and untrue. In Girls we see Marnie act as Hannah's sounding board and smack her back into reality on the episode before this article was written.
That got me thinking that I should look at what personal mythologies I ascribe to myself, what they are, if they are true, if they are not, if I don't like them what I can change to stop them from pervading my life. Really there is one mythology that is pervasive in my life whose veracity is questionable and now that I am thinking about there are problem quite a few. I will now look at my own perception's of myself and debunk whether they are truths or myths
Myths about Gertie
Myth #1 I am tall. I am very short, five foot three and one half, I have been this tall since I was ten years old. At ten it made me tall for my age, in my thirties it makes me slightly below the average height for an adult female. In my mind, I am as tall as a glamazon and it makes me discount shorter statured men. I should debunk the myth that I am tall and realize that even average heighted people are taller than me and I can date them. Alot of my friends are taller than me and it took me till this year to realize we weren't like sized adults.
Myth #2 That people are looking at me because I am unattractive/have some malady, I'm very self conscious sometimes. It's entirely irrational, deep down I know I am attractive and that I draw attention for my personality as well as my looks. When men are checking me out and or people glance in my direction, I will acknowledge they are looking at me and smiling because they like what they see. I will no longer think there is spinach in my teeth and they're waiting for me to pass so they can gossip about some malady I am unaware of. Lol
Myth #3 Gertie is a bad cook. My mother never taught me how to cook, she simply taught me how to bake, mostly because she didn't like to bake herself. There is a rumor going around my family that I didn't know how to cook for years. I always thought that my cooking was subpar I compared it to my mom, a chef I dated in my 20's, and culinary genuis' on TV. The truth is I am an excellent cook, this year my mother had me teach her how to make risotto. I may use recipes but I even get things right and tasty on the first try. I will no longer second guess or question my cooking, I will present it to the world as being excellent until someone tells me different.
Myth# 4 That showing cleavage is bad. I blame this entirely on my father as a hangup from my childhood. I developed too early and I think my Dad was uncomfortable with my bosoming breasts. He told me shirts that were too low cut were unattractive and encouraged me to keep the girls covered. Over the years I have grown to love my attractive bust. It has only been recently in the last few years that I have embraced showing cleavage at social events, in clothing, as mature women do. In fact as soon as I learned to love my girls, there appearances didn't quite draw as much attention. The more people get used to seeing them the more they become part of the backdrop and not the forefront of the Gertie Show. Showing cleavage can be tasteful, sexy, and appropriate for a fun fearless heroine like Gertie.
I challenge all of you to take stock in what thoughts you may hold as mythologies about yourself and to try and set them aside if they are not true. We are all our own biggest self critics. We should remember to love and support ourselves as we love and support our loved ones. If you have a critical thought or if you notice a negative mythology holding you down, imagine your reaction if someone said that to your best friend. Can you be your own Marnie? Throw hammers at those myths and get them out of your head. That will make progress in learning to love your best self.
Until Next Time,
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