Friday, July 02, 2010

Celebrating the 4th, and Towanda


Americans everywhere are cleaning out the old grills, making homemade ice cream, buying up hot dogs (the nectar of the Gods) and getting ready to celebrate the 4th of July. Sure wish the firemen would let me use my grill again.

AnyHOO...I'm celebrating too. Only my celebration of freedom and independence is two-fold today.

Freedom and independence means celebrating first why we are free (Thanks to ALL of our Armed Forces, love you!) but it also means celebrating who we really are because we have been given this precious choice.

It means never having to tell a lie about how you feel, what you think, or if those pants really do make your best friend look wider than a moving van.

It also means being all that you can be, stretching yourself daily, and living the life you really want; despite the naysayers.

I like to think of myself as Towanda (Kathy Bates) from the movie Fried Green Tomatoes.

Whenever I pull into a Wally World parking lot, I always remember those morons who deliberately steal Towanda's parking space right out from under her. Bawwwhahahaha...bad move, whippersnappers.

In an instant, her life of being the whipping post for others and always doing what they told her she should do, flashed before her eyes.

Towanda snapped. Enough was enough. She slammed into their car and kept doing it until she felt empowered. She drove off a new and happy person, changed for life. From that day forward, she was true to her own self.

Are you being true to yourself?

You don't have to run over anybody, or their car, to be the woman/man you want to be. Just follow your gut and live your dream. If you aren't living your dreams, whose dreams are you living?

Towanda yourself!

If you want to be a singer, do it.
If you want to be a dancer, do it.
If you want to be an actor/actress, for Pete's sake, do it!

If you want to be a humor writer, a pox on you. Just joshin' with ya, Hun...do it!

Celebrate who you "really" are inside and if you start having doubts, just shout to the world, TOWANDA ...and feel the power!

I know I do...

JJ - Celebrating her TowandaNESS



7 Comments:

Blogger Ruth said...

What a powerful post, JJ! I whoop and laugh at that scene every time I watch the movie. Too many women don't feel powerful or in control of their own lives, which is a shame, because women can accomplish so much if they would just let themselves do it.

7:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Girl, I'm reading The Help. You've got to read it. Talk about women empowering women. It's powerful! Great blog, by the way!

Dotsie

5:50 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can go only as far as to say that there are some people whose cars I would love to ram. But there's still a quantum leap between admitting it and doing it. I still don't have the gumption for the consequences - you know what happened when I stood up to my step-daughter-in-law - hubby and I are still exiled from seeing our grandchildren. That consequence from being empowered enough to speak up for myself scares me from doing it again, especially when the others also have to pay the consequences. I have to find the way that I can be true to myself without having such a disastrous impact on innocent bystanders (like hubby). sigh.

Thought-provoking, JJ. Thanks!

9:22 AM  
Blogger Ann said...

That scene is one of my favorites of all time - there are days when I too want to ram a car.

Towanda, you and JJ are two of my heroines. Live on fully and joyfully.

(I, too, am reading The Help - great book)

8:13 AM  
Anonymous The Happypreneur said...

Love it Queenie! I once had a similar Towanda experience. It was pouring rain and I was very patiently waiting (with my blinker on) for a car to back out so I could pull in when a man cut in front of me and took the spot.
Didn't run the guy over, but when he said he didn't see my name on the parking spot, I threatened to write it there in his blood. He moved and I have since gotten control of my out hormones.

9:03 AM  
Blogger Queen Jaw Jaw said...

Welcome to my Queendom, Happypreneur, and remember, da Queen here is always available to help hide the bodes...

1:32 PM  
Blogger Denise Jeffries. said...

Towanda to you too. Fried Green Tomatoes is one of my favorite movies and just the other day I actually told someone, 'you may be younger but I have more insurance.' Go figure. Now if I could just get my hands on some good ole home made ice cream all would be right in the world.

7:04 PM  

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