Thursday, July 28, 2011

The Beginning


What do you get when you take "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin add a little Eliza Dolittle and touch it off with a little MTV's "Made"...? This blog!

I've decided that for the next 4 years I am going to take on 4 different lifestyles that are polar opposite what I am used to and see if at the end of each year I can't pass off as a legit member of their community. I'm thinking I will use the following 4 lifestyles...but I reserve the right to modify as needed...

Year 1. Cleats for Crowns -- Since I can remember I was always the tough and rough little tom boy and always wrinkled my nose at the beauty world. I'm not very pretty and this is probably why I haven't ever tried to do much to enhance my feminine side. I have been athletic my entire life and very competitive. I played rugby in college and currently play rugby for a city team. I'm often found muddy, sweaty, and completely happy and at home in cleats on the pitch. This next year, I will learn to be competitive in a different way...in a different world-the world of beauty.

Goal: To legitimately compete for a "real" beauty pageant crown. Exploring the world of beauty and all that it entails...

Year 2. Working Class for Upper Middle Class -- I come from the working class. My family has struggled financially for as long as I remember. This has resulted in me being extremely tight fisted and most of my tastes reflect this. My family is that family that keeps old cars in the yard to use for spare parts (I change my own oil and have worked on cars more than some mechanics have, my favorite rig was an '83 Ford F-150), I've made jean quilts, I grew up on goulash and Shepherd's pie, I know how to talk like the country folk. For this year, I will enter the world of luxury and ease, of high rollers and high class and learn how to live the high life.

Goal: To mingle among the upper class comfortably without them being able to tell that I didn't grow up just like them. To become sophisticated.

Year 3. Cow Tipping for Beat Boxing -- I am a country bumpkin. About as white as it gets. I got soul...but it's more of that protestant don't do anything out of line soul. I generally try to keep my lips sealed around those I consider to be "hip" because I know that I am too not legit to not quit. See case and point, complete lameness. I would like to transform myself to be a fine white chocolate. I'm gonna be kewl or something like that!

Goal: To be invited to join a hip hop dance crew. To be legit.

Year 4. A Local Yokel for a Globetrotter -- I haven't traveled much outside of the Western United States. I've only briefly traveled to northern Mexico and spent a spring break in New York City. If I can't drive there within a day, I most likely have not been there. This year will be a year spent dipping my feet in various countries around the world; becoming acculturated to the life of travel and exploration.

Goal: To travel to at least 6 different countries in at least three different continents. To be a world explorer.


I hope to be able to completely submerge myself into these experiences, to shift my paradigm to see the world as these individuals see the world. I do desire however, throughout the experience refrain from activities or lifestyle choices that I feel would significantly endanger the structural integrity of my soul or result in long term negative physical effects. The road will be long and I am sure often times very hard but at the end I hope that I have gained experiences that will help me be a better person and understand other people more fully.


Wish me Luck!! I'm definitely going to need it...that and a lot of patience, an open-mind, and a fat bank account. :D

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