(Mango Media) by Jenny Block. Copyright \u00a9 2020 by Jenny Block. Excerpted with permission of the author.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve always wanted to be that \u201cIt Girl.\u201d The one people were drawn to. The one who could garner the attention of everyone at a dinner party. The one who was so captivating that, no matter where she was or who she was talking to, everyone around her just glowed. The \u201cIt Girl\u201d has some sort of magic force about her, and just being around her allowed you to become enveloped in it. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
I used to think you became an \u201cIt Girl\u201d through clothes or beauty or money. Maybe it was her travel or her experiences or her access to the world. The messaging from that world is confusing. \u201cBe rich. Be young. Be beautiful. Then everyone will love you and you\u2019ll have the world at your feet.\u201d But some of the most banal people I have ever met get top marks in all three of those categories. So it sent me out on a journey pondering, \u201cIf that wasn\u2019t what made the girl\u2014or the guy\u2014 what was it?\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t until I truly listened to the words my father had been saying to me since I was a little girl that I realized what the magic quotient of the It Girl truly was: authenticity. <\/span><\/span><\/span>She feels so comfortable in her skin that she can\u2019t help but let it spring out from her like so many sparkly strands that surround and delight everyone around her. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Because she feels good about herself, she makes others feel the same way. There\u2019s no one easier to adore than someone who reflects back to you the image of yourself that you long to see: the smart, funny, clever, enchanting, kind, calm, inviting version of yourself that knows just what to do and how to do it in every situation. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
That girl (or guy) is That Unicorn. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
I used to get angry when my dad would tell me to be myself. That plan had gotten me rejected in the most grandiose of ways, including when I went to Camp Louise the summer between eighth and ninth grades. Everyone else had grown up and arrived at camp with luggage packed with Bloomies underwear and magazine pages to hang in their lockers of the latest hunky movie stars. I showed up with my monkey puppet: \u201cHi! I\u2019m Jenny and this is my monkey, Henry.\u201d It was social suicide at first sight. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
But what I didn\u2019t know back then was that those girls were even more insecure than I was. It was that very desperation that pushed them to follow the crowd in every sense, to dress the same and talk the same and drool over the very same heartthrobs. I was too na\u00efve to know any better. I was just being, well, me. That summer was the beginning of me deciding that that whole \u201cbe yourself\u201d thing was for the birds. All it got you was a seat at the dork table in the cafeteria and a lot of lonely Saturday nights. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
But years of following the crowd did me no good, either. Not in the long run, anyway. Why? Because I wasn\u2019t being me. I was faking it . . . and not in the \u201cfake it till you make it\u201d kind of way, just in the plain old \u201cfake it \u02bccause you don\u2019t know what the heck else to do\u201d kind of way. That\u2019s never good. When I was faking it, I felt fake. When I was my actual self, I felt so much better. Slowly it became clear to me: being yourself might not always be the easiest, but it is always the best. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
So, when I got to college, I decided it was the perfect time to retest my dad\u2019s \u201cbe yourself and they will come\u201d theory. And, go figure, it worked. People liked to be around me because <\/span><\/span><\/span>I knew who I was and I was happy and comfortable in my own skin. From then on, that was my path. Sure, I had and continue to have plenty of days plagued by insecurity. But most days are pretty prancy. I became That Unicorn by not trying to be any girl other than me. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
That Unicorn is the best you. That Unicorn is a glittery, rainbow-maned metaphor for one\u2019s joyful self . . . the kind of person we are all drawn to. That Unicorn is you. My mom has always said that people are drawn to me because I make everyone feel good about themselves. Throughout my life, people have echoed that sentiment. It\u2019s the thing I love about myself the most: I\u2019m the big sister, the BFF, the mom, the cheerleader, the coach . . . \u201cthe little unicorn that could\u201d who everyone deserves.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Excerpted from <\/span>Be That Unicorn: Find Your Magic, Live Your Truth, and Share Your Shine<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/a> (Mango Media) by Jenny Block. Copyright \u00a9 2020 by Jenny Block. Excerpted with permission of the author.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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