This could apply to anything from hairstyle (too long, purple, whatever) to a particular activity (comic books, video games, Star Trek conventions, etc.) or sport you like to participate in (Mom! Grandpa took my skateboard again!)
This past weekend I attended Mermania 2016, a mermaid convention in Greensboro, North Carolina. A what? Yes, a mermaid convention in which I dressed as a mermaid, swam with mermaids (both professional and non), talked/sang/played/danced and hugged with mermaids.
The pool was too cold for me to swim much (I have cold-induced urticaria - a literal allergy to cooler temperatures) but I was surrounded by so much warmth it didn't matter. It was one of the best weekends I've had in a very long time.
Wait. How old are you?, you might ask. This blog is admittedly written by a senior. Yeah. I guess. But it hurts to admit to the chronology when my soul has somehow - through child-raising, hardships, bouts of depression, responsible home ownership, a stable career and a credit score over 800 - retained so much of the child within.
Perhaps this is what has kept me going all these years. I don't have much truck with Muggles. My home was always open to D&D games. I read and write fantasy novels. I enjoy sci-fi, fairies, the Renn Faire, and dressing up for LOTR and Star Wars movies. I own Star Trek and Tinkerbell pajamas. I've attended Who Con, sci-fi cons, Comicon, and Harry Potter weekends. But by far my favorite was/is Mermania.
I wasn't the only young soul in attendance. Merfolk come in all ages, sizes, shapes, colors, genders, and sexual preferences. None of it matters. We are all together, tailed and glittering.
The fact is, I believe that none of this matters IN LIFE. But when we walk the streets in our various and sundry "real faces" it's less easy to recognize that we are all one. We focus on our differences "out there".
If only we could look at the world as one big "Human Con" we might enjoy more of the love, respect, and camaraderie that I enjoyed this weekend in pink wig, seashells, glitter, and tail. Proud to be a "Mermom".
2 comments:
You do what you want to do. It is your life. The decisions in your life are yours to make, not anyone else's. If you want to be fanciful on occasion, just do it! You have already paid your dues, kiddo. Time to be yourself, with a tail or a spacesuit or Tardis.
I am a little too uptight to go in costume anywhere, but I love that you are doing precisely what you want to do...short of actually growing a fishtail. Then you'd be strange.
Hugs
But I'd LOVE to grow a fishtail!
Post a Comment