For anyone who has ever stumbled upon my unnecessarily dramatic Snapchat stories or became exceedingly confused after watching clips on my once vibrant YouTube channel, being an exuberant character is not a trait out of the ordinary for me. If anything, being a tragically confident, poor attempt of a comedic-based entertainer is – as the twitter youth would say – My Brand™. However, contrary to what most perceive of me, this boisterous vocal aura only became exposed less than three years ago. Before then, every movement of my one-woman, life story sitcom was confined to the four walls of my bedroom. If you ask my mirror, and the peeling, vintage One Direction posters on my wall, I’m pretty sure I’m the funniest person they’ve ever seen. Although, of course, as any remotely sane adolescent would do, I always made sure to leave an intermission between my astounding Comedy Central showcases, for time dedicated into memorizing the entire Legally Blonde franchise – each movie, word for word, scene for scene.
Ah yes, little miss Woods comma Elle: Delta Nu sorority president gone top-of-class Harvard Law graduate. Now, you don’t have to be a Gemini vegetarian to understand that Elle Woods is one of, if not the greatest, characters to ever bestow herself upon present day pop-culture. There are hundreds of dissertations out there on the World Wide Web that prove my statement to be true, and yes…I have read them all. In case my previous indicators haven’t flared your radar yet: I am completely and utterly infatuated with Elle Woods. To the point that in my current day college dorm room, I have a framed picture of Elle. Think I’m lying?
Well think again, because you just played yourself.
She taught me that throwing yourself into the world, just as you are, is one of the most rewarding actions you can ever take. It sounds silly but hear me out – if we all live each and every day ready to face the world with the same tenacity Elle had after Warner told her she wasn’t smart enough for law school, we’d start to see a lot of shattered self-imposed boundaries. Because let’s be real here – if I’m going to be a published Broadway playwright and a writer at Saturday Night Live by the time I’m 30, I’m going to need to grab my scented pink resumes, and let someone other than the little FBI agent living inside of my iPhone’s camera see what I can bring.
Even if you’re not blowing off Greek Week to study for the LSATs or smuggling in the latest edition of Cosmo a.k.a., The Bible, to your Delta Nu sister on trial for murder, there is a little bit of Elle we can all learn from. Emulating her drive has protruded essential self-truth to become alive and well in my everyday life. Just as Elle, I am now unafraid to speak my mind, chase my inner desires, and leave my mark on the world. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll even run into Cameron Diaz and talk her out of buying a truly heinous (orange) sweater – whoever said orange is the new pink was seriously disturbed.
Until that day, I can relish in my newfound confidence, while I continue to create unwarranted mini-series on my public Snapchat story, and annoy everyone in my building as I habitually remind them how many days until Legally Blonde 3 hits the big screen – 513, in case you were curious. As a very wise blonde woman once said, “You must always have faith in people. And most importantly, you must always have faith in yourself.” Because if you can’t open your own bedroom door and step out into the light, who the heck is going to do it for you?