Are You Embarrassing Yourself? (You Should Be)

I can be pretty embarrassing. I have a sense of humor that has been described as “bizarre and borderline off-putting” and I love wearing socks and ‘Stocks.

Snapchat received July 2018. This is our backyard. Embarrassing. 

Sometimes I get excited about something and start talking about it way too loudly in public. Sometimes I make weird faces without realizing that I’m doing it. I've dressed up as Winky the house elf from Harry Potter (yes, there are pictures; no, you cannot see them), and once I took my cat outdoors on a leash while I was wearing Family Guy boxers, an activity made even more embarrassing due to my cat clearly hating every minute of it. Life hack: Don’t try to walk your cat.

We all do things that make us a little embarrassing. You probably know someone who legitimately likes Twilight, laughs too loudly and too often in the movie theater, takes bathroom mirror selfies, plays World of Warcraft, calls their significant other “baby,” or is a mouth breather.

Yes, these things are all embarrassing. However, they are the harmless kind of embarrassing. The kind of embarrassing that makes us human, and, in small doses, even a little endearing. These are examples of the kind of embarrassing we should embrace.

IMPORTANT CAVEAT:

Unfortunately, not all things that are embarrassing are harmless. We all have been embarrassing in a manner that can’t be written off as quirky, and most of us regret that and don’t care to be reminded of it, so I won’t get specific. But if you’re wondering if your embarrassing-ness is Not Okay, here’s a helpful checklist:

1. The embarrassing thing that I am doing or saying causes another person unwelcomed physical discomfort.
2. The embarrassing thing that I am doing or saying causes another person unwelcomed emotional distress.
3. The embarrassing thing that I am doing or saying directly results in ultimately bad consequences for others.
4. The embarrassing thing that I am doing or saying directly results in ultimately bad consequences for myself.

Once something embarrassing stops being harmless, it becomes shameful. Life hack: Try to avoid doing things that are shameful.

Assuming that your embarrassing-ness is of the harmless variety, make peace with it. Maybe you love Nickelback, can speak Klingon, quote memes in your everyday conversation, or frequently wear Crocs. Say what you will about the concept of liking something ironically: It has allowed us to accept hobbies, interests and ideas that are outside the norm. What used to be aggressively dorky is now uniquely cool.

More importantly, being unafraid to occasionally let others know how embarrassing you are is good for both others and yourself. We all know people who are so utterly unembarrassing that they are completely intimidating to interact with. We generally avoid these people, because their lack of embarrassing-ness just makes us feel more embarrassing than we actually are. When you are your true, embarrassing self, you put others at ease. Life hack: Putting others at ease makes them want to be around you more.

Of course, not everyone will find the embarrassing things you do as fascinating and charismatic as you’d hope. That’s fine. The bigger benefit here is that you are more at ease with yourself when you embrace your embarrassing-ness. When you don’t tell anyone about the three pizzas you ate that time you were really hangry because you’re afraid they’ll judge you, it becomes a deep, dark secret. When you admit it, despite your embarrassment, it becomes a strange but funny thing you did. (And, in the right peoples’ eyes, you become a hero.)

So go forth and embarrass the hell out of yourself.

Post originally appeared on Firespring's blog on August 7, 2015. As I have a grown as a person since then, I will now let you see a picture of me dressed as Winky the house elf: