Opinion: You’ll never be embarrassed if you already know how silly you look.
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How old were you when you figured out the ultimate secret of life? Chances are you haven’t found it yet if you’re a college student. It seems like something that comes with age and wisdom. At the ripe old age of 20, I’m happy to announce that I’ve got it all figured out. Ready to hear it? You’re not the main character of life.
This revelation came about during fall term of my freshman year when I went to a show in Eugene for the first time. I was nervous about going to WOW Hall alone, and I had no idea what to do with myself when I arrived. In a lucky turn of events, I ran into some of my friends that night, and one of them asked if I liked dancing.
I was shocked. Was he crazy? I could never dance in public; someone might see me, and then I would just have to die of shame on the spot. After that super eloquent response on my part, he said something that changed my life forever: “Even if you’re bad at it, you’re still way cooler than the people who aren’t dancing.”
At first glance, this seems like a relatively simple statement, but I’ve found that it applies well to so many different activities. It turns out that life is a lot more fun when you’re an active participant. That night of the show, I was able to let go of my fear of dancing in public completely, and that ended up being a great choice. It’s so cliche to say, “Dance like nobody’s watching,” but that’s the truth — no one is watching you dance. You are not the focus. It’s my whole job to be a bit judgemental, and even I’m not thinking about the way other people dance when I’m at a show.
Since then, I’ve been a lot less worried about looking ridiculous in front of others. The high school version of myself would be horrified to hear this, but I’m really not uptight about being the goofiest person at an event anymore. Someone has to do it! I might as well fill that role and put everyone else at ease. While I’m certainly not at the point where I’ll dance in front of people who are actually watching me, life is much nicer when you’re not worrying about how other people perceive you.
Besides, people tend to immediately like you more if you let your guard down and embrace losing your dignity a little bit. Little kids instantly warm up to me when they can laugh at me for being afraid of butterflies. When I tell my friends I don’t know how to dance, they step in right away and try to teach me new moves (it never works, but it’s fun to try). When I trip or run into something in public, I laugh it off, and the people around me can laugh too instead of looking uncomfortable.
If you flat-out refuse to be embarrassed, no one can embarrass you. You’re embarrassment-proof; it’s like a superpower. And in the dorkiest way possible, that’s pretty cool.
