The Beauty of Letting Our Freak Flag Fly
One of the things that I “preach” at the Enchanted Hearth is to be unapologetically YOU, to let your “freak flag” fly! But “walking my talk” is not always easy or even second nature to me yet.
For instance…
My youngest daughter started band camp this week.
For a number of years, she has been following in DH and my footsteps as “bandos”.
She even played my flute, the one my parents bought for me “back in the day”, for the past four years.
This year, though, she’s continued to walk in my footsteps by switching to color guard. Something that I, myself, did in my junior year of high school.
She wanted to continue to be in marching band. (Especially since Covid put a damper on that last year!) But she no longer wants to play her instrument.
For her, it has been a natural progression. This is the kid that would spontaneously dance across the floor on her tiptoes not long after she was able to walk!
And while she had happily been in dance classes before we moved here from Missouri, she has not found a suitable outlet for her dancing spirit since moving here.
Now, she has!
Fast Forward to Yesterday
My Inner Teen has been chomping at the bit since she officially made her move from band to color guard. I would be lying if I said I don’t still have dreams at night of the “good ol’ days”. I had A LOT of fun with it!
Now, we had planned on doing this. I had planned to help her practice. We even purchased two sets of poles and silks! But when I considered it more, I started listening to my Inner Judge.
“You’ll look damn ridiculous. A 50-something woman out there tossing a flag where ALL the neighbors can see you? You’re no longer a teenager, you know.”
But yesterday when my daughter asked me if I wanted her to show me some things, I jumped at the chance! She even got my flag set up for me!
Now, it wasn’t necessarily like riding a bike. Some things didn’t come back to me without a refresher from her, but they did come back. I even helped her with one of the tosses she had been having difficulties with!
We had fun! But still… the Inner Judge nagged at me a bit afterward. That was until I was talking with DH later, who helped put it into perspective for me.
He told me it was “beautiful to watch”.
“Really?” I said. “I’m feeling a little silly right now.”
“How different is it from a dad playing basketball or catch with their son?”
He was right!
Getting Over Myself
I would have loved to practice my flag routines with my mom! (Pictured above) Though, we did have some fun together during that time in other ways!
I can even hear her saying now: “Get over yourself! Have fun in any way you can because it’s over in the blink of an eye. Before you know it, she’ll be all grown up and out on her own.”
And I would be willing to bet that there are few if any of my daughter’s teammates whose moms are practicing with them let alone able to!
That IS pretty special!
We have three years until our daughter graduates. That’s three more years of making memories we can hold onto once she “flies the coop”. I’m going to make the most of it, and the Inner Judge be damned!
Is there something that you’ve been itching to do but hesitated because of your Inner Judge? Will it bring you joy? The world can be woefully joy-deficient. GO DO THAT! The Inner Judge be damned!
Until next time, dear friend, let your “freak fly flag”. As my mom said, “it’s over in the blink of an eye”. Don’t leave Earth with your “song” still “stuck within you”.
Let’s Connect In Other Spaces, too!
