how to be silly
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We all have inner critics. That voice that says, "Don't do, say or write this, you will look _____(fill in the blank with your favorite negative adjective, usually mine is stupid). But what happens when you just go for it, let your freak flag fly, and throw caution to the wind?
Sometimes you sound stupid. And sometimes you put your foot in your mouth. (See the above picture for reference). But sometimes something great happens, your truth comes out and in turn you make a deep, loving connection with another human being.
Those voices in childhood become background ghosts...the girl who said I was too hyper, the one who said, "Oh so you're normal", and the "friend" who said, "I hope Lindsay doesn't embarrass me."
In the spirit of quieting the inner critic and getting real, I present you with a list I created for my #braveblogging course.
How to be silly.
1) Just start laughing. Big, ridiculous, hearty, from the belly, laughter. I find marine animals to be helpful in this arena. Think seals...barking, arfing, clap your hands together,let's here it for the SEALS! The forced laughter turns into real laughter until you have a cacophony of snorts and giggles. I like this around a dinner table if things are boring or too serious feeling.
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2) Costumes and wigs. They are always a good idea. If you don't have any laying around, put something too small on, let your muffin top hang out, and then ask your spouse or a friend, "Does this make me look fat?" Recently, I wore this captains hat and told my kids to call me, Captain my Captain. I then went through the Drive thru at Dunkin Donuts. The D&D employee liked it as did my son. My baby was asleep. But my daughter was horrified.
3). Be really random. Say for instance you are at a cocktail party and someone asks you where you got your dress. (This never happens to me by the way but pretend it did). A good response might be, If you think my dress is pretty, you should see my vagina. I just got it vajazzled with rhinestones in hues of pink, turquoise, and magenta OR When I grow up, I want to be Blanche (Or Dorothy, even more random) from the Golden Girls.
4). Recite lines from movies. Again random is key here. Think Kristin Wiig on the plane in Bridesmaids..."I'm going to paaarty with the best of them..down by the river"....or 80's movies are always good like any line from Can't by Me Love...."Did you know the finest leathers come from Rome, Paris or Des Moines"?
5).Contests. Okay things like, Most Annoying Dance Move or Make up a Jingle or Best Impersonation (my favorites to do are Bjork and Cher...I didn't say I was good at them) or Worst Accent.
6). Games. If you need external assistance, games are great.For my husbands birthday, I placed random sayings under my friends dinner plates and then at some point during the night, everyone had to fit the sentence into the conversation without sounding too obvious. Things like, "Pantyhose really get me hot."
7). Or board games are good.Scategories, Pictionary, and Cards Against Humanity (fun but profane, not for the faint of heart which I didn't realize when I whipped it out on CHRISTMAS EVE of all nights. We played with my mother, my sister and her partner, and my brother. I like handing my really profane cards to my husband so he had to read them out loud in front of my mom. He was crying he was laughing so hard. Good medicine!
8). Talk like Oprah. Like when she would introduce someone on her show. It always makes me smile when my brother does this..."GWYNETH PALTROW IN THE HOUUUSE!"
9). Don' t take yourself seriously. (Obviously you wouldn't be if you were wanting to be silly). But really, don't. Don't try to sound funny, or worry about not being funny enough or not silly enough, or turning red ( I am a big time blusher..it is so annoying!) or looking like an utter fool, sometimes you gotta just say f it and proceed with no caution.