Swayback

When I was in elementary school, a teacher once called me away from the friends I rambunctiously played with at recess, disapprovingly smirked, and told me I had a "swayback." She put one hand on my belly and one on my lower back, pushed in opposite directions, and said I had to be more aware of my posture. I was crushed, although in retrospect I wonder if something else compelled this person to force her hurtful, non-professional opinion on a child. It was an embarrassing and confusing early experience that along with others would catapult me into adulthood with a multitude of body and confidence issues.

This afternoon I treated myself to a massage, and in my intro to the therapist, heard myself say that I had a swayback and had broken my neck as a kid so I naturally carried a lot of tension in certain areas. Then I thought ... wait a second ... what is the statute of limitations on these 30-year-old, fleeting (if horribly traumatic) events? Was I seriously allowing them to continue to define me? Could that inappropriate teacher and that horrible accident still be affecting me physically and mentally to this day?

The massage was amazing, and I do not tell this tale to gain sympathy. But, I do implore you to think about the incredible impact your words and actions can have on the sponge-like minds of children and adults alike, and to stop and think about the origin and actual vs. fictional benefit that any critical words may have on you and the other.

In the meantime, I am going to attempt to rock this bootylicious "swayback" and much like Jennifer Connelly in Labyrinth, peer through the years and frankly tell those childhood traumas "you have no power over me" until they get the picture. :)