Fort Worth, Texas
December 21, 2019
This question has been with me since I left Charlottesville in early October. I'm sure some (everyone) thinks it is odd that I chose to bring a Buddy standee along with me. Although some of you who know about my “problem” with standees may understand better than others.
I figured that Buddy would be handy to have in photos - instead of shooting selfies all the time and dealing with seeing my aging mug, it would be easier just to set up Buddy in the photos. There have been a few times that the wind and rain have prevented Buddy from being in a photo, but I’ve been pretty lucky with that. He is starting to show some wear from getting in and out of the car, but I used yard sticks to make him a brace ,and he’s doing better now.
But hat’s really a secondary reason. The primary reason Buddy is along for the ride is to serve as a reminder. A reminder of all the things Buddy is - silly, naive, very caring, loving, curious, unafraid of new experiences or to give a compliment, wears his emotions on his shelve, optimistic, joyful. He has a zest for every moment. Not a bad list of qualities. Buddy reminds me each day to blow up the box I built for myself as an adult. I thought that box was what I needed to be “successful.” It was a box built of other people’s expectations - both explicit and those that my mind dreamed up. It was a box that trapped me from being me.
Buddy reminds me each day to reach deep and reveal the person inside of me that’s been "resting" for the past 30 years.