I have a bit of a complex about my ears.
They stick out too much. They are too big for my head.
This complex was reinforced by my mom.
Before leaving for my high school graduation photo shoot, Bonnie put scotch tape in her purse along with the little sticks of spearmint flavored gum and lipstick stained tissues I would always find in there when I was being snoopy.
Her plan was to use the tape to secure my ears closer to my head.
My badly permed hair was cut short around my ears, but with just enough hair to cover the top of each ear, as was the style back in 1984.
Bonnie’s perspective was that not MacGyvering my ears with scotch tape for this once in a lifetime photo opportunity would mean that I wouldn’t look as pretty as I could. Having friends and relatives see a photo with my natural ears sticking out as they did (and still do) would in some way be offensive.
I of course was humiliated to have this attention paid to my over-sized auditory appendages but I went along with it. “Mom knows best” and all that I guess.
Now I can look back at this story and laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.
It doesn’t matter if my ears are too big and stick out. It never did. They serve a great purpose for me. They work. They allow me to listen to the music I love. They allow me to hear my kids’ and Hubs’ voices. Our 6 year old grandson’s sweet voice. They alert me of danger. And they allow me to wear pretty, dangly, sparkly earrings whenever I want to.
My goofy looking ears allow me to do the one thing I enjoy doing the very most: Engage. And that is Everything.
Speaking of “Everything”, here’s a clip of a favorite song of mine and Hubs’ which we had the pleasure of listening to via the NPR channel on our Sirius XM during our road trip to the Midwest last month.
ENJOY!
Pollyanna's Path 
Rhonda,
You have ears that stick out? Too big? Geez, since when because I don’t see it. Not then and not now. I think you have Goldilocks’s ears — just right. And you got that right…”engaging is everything.” Anyway, I enjoyed your story and the music, as always! Mona
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Ha ha! Thanks Mona. I usually have them hidden by my hair, that’s why they’re not too noticeable 🙂
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Oh Rhonda, the things we go through in life! I smiled at the idea of taping your ears back for the photo, especially as that photo doesn’t show any large ears at all! What a fun memory! visiting from #shoutoutSaturday
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I know, right? My mom was something else. Thanks for your comments!
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Oh wow, what a memory to have! You clearly have emotional maturity — I’ve met plenty of people who just never got past those early messages.
A little off subject, but something I often think about: the message we give girls about how everything hinges on them being pretty…. oh, it makes my heart ache!
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Thanks Christi, I appreciate that. I know what you mean about the messages girls are given about always having to be pretty and sweet. As I was sorting out clothes at my friend’s non-profit recently, I came across a little girls shirt with the image of an owl on it. All cute and glittery. With the words “Owl always love you” on it. I thought to myself, would you ever see boys clothes with a message like that? We are so attached to gender in this country, don’t you think?
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Yes, we certainly are! About a year ago I read something about how the LGTBQ+ community can only benefit the straight community by forcing us to recognize these gender roles we’re placed in and what a prison it can be. It brought up a lot of things I hadn’t thought much about — such as how our fairy tales and animated movies are always focused on good=pretty, bad=ugly. Very eye-opening!
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Yes, and I’ve got a non-binary artist (kid #2) living here, so my eyes are being opened to LGBTQ+ issues and terminology on the daily.
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Your ears look wonderful. I have a friend who had big ears in high school, and since then he has grown into them and you cannot tell. great post.
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Ha ha! Thank you. And thanks for the follow too!
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