Stand Out

Or, How I Can Relate A Goofy Movie to nearly any situation.

A Goofy Movie has always been one of my favorite movies. I just realized it came out 21 years ago, and that makes me feel incredibly old. Yowza.

Anyway, there are some really great scenes in the movie, including when the main character, Max Goof, lip syncs a great song in front of the whole school:

It’s a fun, cute and memorable scene, but take a look at some of the lyrics:

Some people settle for the typical thing
Livin’ all their lives waitin’ in the wings
It ain’t a question of if just a matter of time
Before I move to the front of the line

and:

All I need is half a chance, a second thought
A second glance’ll prove
I got whatever it takes, it’s a piece of cake

To stand out above the crowd
Even if I gotta shout out loud
‘Til mine is the only face you see
Gonna stand out, stand out, hey

I never used to be able to relate to most of the song: moving to the front, standing out in a crowd, not wanting to wait around, etc. I was the opposite of all of those things until the last year or even the past few months.

Yes, I know the song is about getting a girl to notice a boy, but I think the lyrics can apply to body positivity and self-love as well.

I always wanted to hide my body and not draw any more attention to it than it already got just by existing. Standing out was just about the last thing on my mind.

Now things are a little bit different for me, to say the least.

As I mentioned earlier, I bought some bright pink capris and a white skirt a few months ago. I was so excited to wear them but was nervous someone would make fun of or judge me. Guess what? Nothing bad happened. I noticed how confident and happy I was each time I wore those items, so I wanted to keep wearing them more. In fact, I’ve worn both of them multiple times in the past few weeks. If it’s not obvious, let me just say that there’s basically no way I can blend in when wearing these items. And I’m loving it!

I’ve also ordered a few new pieces from Society+, a plus-sized online clothing retailer, including a navy dress with a pink stripe and a mint green skirt. Whenever I wear either item, they make me feel so trendy, creative, colorful and, dare I say it, sexy. That’s an emotion I don’t feel much with most (if not all) of the clothing I own.

The more I think about it, the more I realize how many ingrained habits I have when it comes to clothing. I find that I’m constantly pulling on my shirt/dress/whatever to try to minimize whatever cleavage I have that’s showing. I often wear cardigans with dresses and tank tops because I don’t to bare my arms, draw attention to my chest area, stand out. This is a work in progress, but I’m getting better at breaking those habits.

All my life I’ve always wanted to blend in, just be another face in the crowd. But now that’s the last thing I want. I want to be myself, to express my creativity and my personality. I want to stand out. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

As I continue to wear brighter, more unique items of clothing and experiment with makeup, I notice how happy I’m becoming. It makes me feel so good to express myself, and then I just want to keep on finding new ways to stand out. And guess what? No one has been hurt by my actions, nothing terrible happened at all and I’ve become a happier, more positive person. Seems pretty simple, right?

You deserve to feel beautiful, confident, happy, sexy and everything in between. If society isn’t going to tell us those things, we have to believe them right from our core. It takes practice to get there, but it is possible if you start to stand out.

I want you to stand out, above the crowd, especially if you have to shout out loud (or let your clothing do it for you). Prove that you’ve got whatever it takes (especially if it’s a piece of cake).

Basically, I hope you all can make Max Goof proud.