I got a group of 2nd grade moms from my kiddo’s school together last night to go see Singing in the Rain for Retro night at a nearby movie theater.  This is our third year at the school, and I still don’t know all that many people (which I totally blame on the fact that I have twins – my excuse for everything!  For the last two years, my life has pretty much revolved around them.  But they’re older, and I’m a lot more sane now, so I can afford to do a little more in life!)  I have decided that this is the year that I’m going to actually get to know people.  So I set up an event, and it was great!  Except I still need lots of help in the small talk area.  But we can talk about that later!

I’ve never seen the movie Singing in the Rain before, but I remembered after it started that I had seen a live performance of it at some point.  It’s a really great movie, and there are so many great lines in it.

The one that stuck out to me last night was “Dignity.  Always, dignity.”  This part always makes me laugh because Don is on the red carpet trying to act all fancy, but as he’s talking about his past and how he became a star it flashes back to what really happened.  He keeps saying “Dignity.  Always, dignity”, but the reality was that his past was far from dignified.

Up until not so long ago, I felt like I always had to appear dignified.  That’s the way people wanted me to be, right?  And I sort of looked down on people if they were not dignified themselves.

But the more life I live, I find that I am drawn to the people who are not dignified.  The people who aren’t putting on airs to look great to everyone else.  Sometimes the people who are so broken that they have absolutely no airs left to put on.  I yearn for interactions with people who are honest and true to themselves.  I want to talk to the people who are more than willing to share how they are not perfect.  People that are willing to admit that they are a big fat mess.

Because when you’re willing to be real and lay it all out in the open, it’s extremely freeing!  You don’t have to worry about keeping up your image.  Or working yourself sick to prove how great you are.  You just get to be who you really are.  Yes, some people may not like the real you.  But probably, more than likely, the vast majority will!

I’ve found that the closer I am to Christ, I don’t care so much what other people think of me.  And that’s HUGE for a people-pleaser like me!  If Christ thinks I’m OK no matter what, that is pretty special!

So, let’s do all we can to live undignified, true, honest lives!