My sister performed in "Working" (a lesser known musical of Steven Schwartz -- the guy who wrote the score for Wicked). You can imagine the amount of puns I create from the title. Including but not limited to:
1. Working hard or hardly working, Grace?
2. "The musical? She's working on it."
Yes, I needed a hobby during second semester of my freshman year.
(That's my sister, Grace)
The musical centers around different occupations people fulfill. During one of the songs, a group of mothers complete a list of monotonous chores from dish washing to doing the dishes. The dismal lyrics captivated me:
"All I am is just a housewife
Nothing special, nothing great."
Just a housewife . . . just a housewife?
The heavy words suspended themselves in my heart. How could anyone attach to themselves the title "just?" This four letter word J-U-S-T carries a heap of insults. Just a kid, a single mother, a broke college student, a fill in the blank. Do we really want this leech to supplant our identity?
Synonyms - only, merely, simply, nothing but, no more than
Can you imagine what would happen if we substitute J-U-S-T with its hidden synonyms?
"I am no more than a kid." "I'm nothing but a single mother." "I am only a broke college student."
You have more beauty, creativity, insight, and diversity than the four-letter word of just deserves. Without you, lives would crumble apart. If you must label yourself with a four-letter word, consider the following:
1. K-I-N-D
If you ever find the elusive, kind person, you will understand the difficulty of the search. The rare charitable being bring sunshine into the lives of a dark, dark world.
If you happen to possess this quality, just does not deserve to hold its grip on you.
2. B-E-S-T
No one can quite do what you have been crafted for. I can be the best Hope Bolinger, because no other clone of me exists. Oscar Wilde summarizes this best when he states, "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
3. H-E-R-O
You can live your entire life and not know you saved five others. You are someone's Captain America or Wonder Woman. Do not let your powers (talents and abilities) go to waste.
You are not just an anything because no other you exists. Release yourself from the toxic four-letter word -- it does not deserve you anyway.
