April is officially here and, with spring on the horizon and summer just down the road, we wanted to focus this month on a fun and energizing notion: Being Silly. As business owners and wedding pros, we’re often required to display the utmost levels of professionalism at all times—which is completely understandable considering we have the biggest day of our clients’ lives in our hands. That being said, there’s something to be said for letting your hair down every now and then.
Silliness can increase creativity and, above all, can be pretty empowering. I love Amy Poehler’s quote for this month, then, because (a) She’s Amy Poehler, and how do you not love her? And because (b) It focuses on the empowering aspects of silliness. Poehler is the queen of self-deprecation and silliness, yet she’s still an extremely respected actress and comedian. Just as her quote communicates, this is because of the way she views her silliness. By not taking yourself too seriously, you harness a type of power that can be hard to come by.
In other words, embarrassing moments are only embarrassing when we allow ourselves to feel embarrassed by them.
By throwing caution and self-consciousness to the wind at moments when we might otherwise feel embarrassed or ridiculous, we get to control the narrative of our lives. Nora Ephron tells a story (and I’m paraphrasing here) about a phrase her mom used to regularly repeat: “Everything is copy,” meaning that everything in life was material for writing—heartbreaks, embarrassments, etc. When talking about what she thought her mother meant by this mindset, Ephron said, “When you slip on a banana peel, people laugh at you. But when you tell people you slipped on a banana peel, it's your laugh.” I absolutely love this idea, and I love that Poehler’s quote reinforces it.
When all's said and done, we are imperfect, semi-ridiculous and oftentimes very silly creatures. But, when harnessed in the right way, silliness is not something that takes away from our power, but, rather, something that adds to it.
So Cheers, Aisle Planners, to Being Silly all throughout the beautiful month of April!