Want to Rock Some Day? Make a Fool of Yourself Now
The following is an AMAZING blog post that I came across a few months ago, thanks to Traci Browne. It really hit a nerve for me. The author is Catherine Caine, who graciously agreed to allow me to repost it here.
As Kim typed, she chanted softly under her breath. “MarilynManson MarilynManson MarilynManson,” like a benediction, muttered as she wrote an article she’d been putting off for thirty-eight years.
But this is too early. Let’s go back twenty-two years.
Kim on the athletic team
Kim was on the running team in high school, and she was a demon on the hurdles. One day the coach pulled her aside with a fatherly arm around the shoulders and said, “We really need to do something about your stride, Kim.”
“What’s wrong with it, coach?”
“It’s just… have you seen a video of your running? You’re… uh… wasting a lot of motion.” He sat her down in front of the TV and pressed Play.
Now Kim had watched herself run before, checking her foot placement and her spine and all sorts of technical things. But this time she unfocused her eyes and watched the overall picture.
And Kim realised she ran like a flailing buffoon. She ran like the Athletic Department of the Ministry of Silly Walks. She ran like a box full of herons falling down a flight of stairs.
“Oh. My. GOD.” The coach nodded sympathetically.
They spent six months on adjusting her stride to something less awkward-looking, but it never looked one bit less foolish. Eventually, Kim quit the team.
And now we’re back at Kim today, invoking the name of Marilyn Manson over and over.
(To read the rest of “Go Make a Fool of Yourself“, click here.)
