The Star by Barbara H. Pledge 100 TARA 2022
As a young girl, I remember playing make- believe that my life was a movie and I was the star. I had a pretty good imagination, and as I rode my bike, walked to school, and sat in my classroom, in my mind, it was all being done in front of an invisible audience. Imagining this was a fun thing to do. I don’t think I ever told anyone I did this; it was my little secret. I was the writer, the star, and the director of my movie. And time went by… It wasn’t until much later that I realized I had allowed others to have a voice in my story. I didn’t know I had offered over my chair to others to do the directing. At some point, I had begun to live through the lens of other people’s expectations.
I had forgotten I was the star. I listened to so many messages about so many things:
· How I should behave. · How I should speak. · How I should think. · How I should dress.
· How I should express my face. · How I should perform in school.
· How I should act at work. · How I should be as a friend. · How I should be in a relationship. · How I should be as a daughter, a sister. You’re supposed to be strong and pretty and confident, not too strong or too pretty or too confident, or you’ll threaten others and make them feel bad. People will only like you if you make them feel good, so make yourself small for their sake. Don’t ask for anything or be a bother.
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