I didn’t watch the Oscars. I’m a Walking Dead fan, so I was over at AMC. But I followed the Oscars on Twitter and couldn’t miss Ellen’s selfie. I bet you saw it too.
Here’s a photo of the making of the photo. In this shot you get to see more of that cute Jared Leto. You’re welcome.
But I digress. What I love about this photo is the young man on the right. The one with the glasses and infectious smile. I saw a clip of Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o on Ellen’s show the day after the ceremony. They were talking about what’s now the most famous selfie in the universe and it turns out that young man is Nyong’o’s brother, a college freshman in Florida. Ellen was marveling at how he just jumped into the photo and now he’s famous. Nyong’o just laughed and said, “He lives life in an exclamation point.”
Life in an exclamation point. I. Love. That.
Little brother didn’t say to himself, “I’m not a famous actor; I don’t belong in this photo.” He just saw an opportunity to do something fun and grabbed it.
When I was his age (doesn’t that phrase make me sound old!?) I didn’t live life in an exclamation point. Most of the time I felt awkward and I hung back a bit. But as I’ve gotten older I’m more comfortable in my own skin. Yes, I’m an introvert so you’ll probably never see me dancing on the bar at Coyote Ugly, but that doesn’t mean I can’t live in my own exclamation point. I can see opportunities and grab them because I deserve them. I can try new things because, well life’s too short not to.
I think I’ll spend more time discovering what it means for me to live in my exclamation point. How about you?
482gr8 