Coming Out
I was talking to a few friends last night about "coming out of the braces closet." How do I tell people that I have braces? Or should I tell them at all?
Tuesday was the first day I taught yoga with my new braces. My objective: to explain as much as I could in as few words as possible. The problem was that up until that point I hadn't had to do much public speaking and I hadn't practiced as thoroughly as I should have. I tried practicing reading aloud, but quickly stopped that as I didn't like what I was hearing! So, there I was trying to be soothing and uplifting with my slurred and lisping speech. I was tempted to say, "Welcome, everyone, Sat Nam, I have braces." But, I decided against that--mainly because once you point something like that out, it becomes more of a focus than it was originally. Luckily, I drew upon my yoga "wisdom" to realize that the class is about your own experience as a student and, in the end, has nothing to do with the teacher. The teacher only facilitates the process. In this case, I happened to be a teacher with a lisp. I have one student who has been in every single class since I started in October. I wouldn't say we're friends, but we definitely have gotten to know each other over the past 6 months. But, I know that, to her, I am still her teacher. She always seems amazed and excited when I take class as a student. I think because of that relationship, I refrained from "coming out" with the self-concious statement, "I have braces." Maybe she noticed, maybe she didn't. She didn't say anything and neither did I.
Later that day, I had a meeting with someone I am going to be doing some freelance work for. I've worked with him before, so we were chatting about the project. He asked me, "What's new?" I immediately said, "Well, I got braces." I felt like I had to clear that up right away--this is why I've spent the last 30 minutes talking this way. It's not me, it's the braces. Again, another person who said, "I didn't even realize," and "I never noticed anything wrong with your teeth." To which, I replied, "I've been getting that a lot lately." Just as I blew up the state of my crooked teeth, maybe, too, I am blowing up the state of having braces.
Tuesday was the first day I taught yoga with my new braces. My objective: to explain as much as I could in as few words as possible. The problem was that up until that point I hadn't had to do much public speaking and I hadn't practiced as thoroughly as I should have. I tried practicing reading aloud, but quickly stopped that as I didn't like what I was hearing! So, there I was trying to be soothing and uplifting with my slurred and lisping speech. I was tempted to say, "Welcome, everyone, Sat Nam, I have braces." But, I decided against that--mainly because once you point something like that out, it becomes more of a focus than it was originally. Luckily, I drew upon my yoga "wisdom" to realize that the class is about your own experience as a student and, in the end, has nothing to do with the teacher. The teacher only facilitates the process. In this case, I happened to be a teacher with a lisp. I have one student who has been in every single class since I started in October. I wouldn't say we're friends, but we definitely have gotten to know each other over the past 6 months. But, I know that, to her, I am still her teacher. She always seems amazed and excited when I take class as a student. I think because of that relationship, I refrained from "coming out" with the self-concious statement, "I have braces." Maybe she noticed, maybe she didn't. She didn't say anything and neither did I.
Later that day, I had a meeting with someone I am going to be doing some freelance work for. I've worked with him before, so we were chatting about the project. He asked me, "What's new?" I immediately said, "Well, I got braces." I felt like I had to clear that up right away--this is why I've spent the last 30 minutes talking this way. It's not me, it's the braces. Again, another person who said, "I didn't even realize," and "I never noticed anything wrong with your teeth." To which, I replied, "I've been getting that a lot lately." Just as I blew up the state of my crooked teeth, maybe, too, I am blowing up the state of having braces.
posted by TinselTeeth at 11:17 AM
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