“It’s Not Easy Being Green”

I was watching the CMA awards last week with Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley hosting once again.

In their opening banter they mentioned that a dear couple that everyone loved had recently split up. Although they were both there, they weren’t even sitting together. There was a pause, then the camera panned to the audience where Miss Piggy was in the end seat of one row and Kermit the Frog was right behind her, shrinking down to try and avoid the camera. Carrie said “Kermit and Miss Piggy, we love you”. Then she and Brad mentioned Kermit didn’t look so good, adding that he “Looks a little green!”

Frog jokes aside, the phrase and song from my post title can be a metaphor for being different in any sense of the word.

I am sure that everyone, whether or not you fit into a category, has felt ostracized in some way at least once in your life. You remember feeling like you didn’t fit into a certain group or situation. You said or did something that hurt another person and they were avoiding you. You stood up for yourself and were given the cold shoulder for your efforts. The list could go on.

Well imagine being a young child in the early 60’s, wearing clunky orthopedic shoes, a “pixie” short haircut and being very clumsy and shy. I got called “a boy in a dress” in kindergarten and grade 1. I finally got rid of the shoes in grade two and things got a little better. However, in grade 5 I got braces and had to wear both the outer metal “harness” and a bite plate that hung down all pink and ugly to help cure my over-bite. I was still shy and awkward but was gaining a few friends. In grade 7, however, the bully storm blew in full force with my team voting me as leader which made me so happy, only to find out that they did it as a joke. Later that year when we had our grade 7 “grad” party, the girls in my class actually dared one of the guys to ask me to dance. They actually thought they were doing me a favour so I wouldn’t feel left out. Unfortunately I just felt more lonely when I found out he didn’t ask me on his own. I certainly knew what “blend(ing) in with so many ordinary things” was like, not to mention standing out like a sore thumb. There was no middle ground.

However, just like Kermit came to terms and realized “I am green and it’ll do fine, it’s beautiful! And I think it’s what I want to be”, I have learned to not only embrace my differences with the world, I wear them with pride and honour! I am Bipolar! I have Chronic Pain! I am a survivor of Abuse, Bullying, Low Self Esteem among many other things! I am Beautiful! I am Smart! I am Lydia!

I find it very ironic that the colour green is used to describe/depict so many unrelated things:

• Jealousy (The green-eyed monster)
• Being different (like Kermit)
• Rage (like the Hulk)
• Coveting another’s situation/Envy (The grass is always greener…)
• Being given the go-ahead (a green light)
• a reference to money (green backs, though in my country and others bills are many different colours)

A final fact that is not lost on me is that my hubby’s favourite colour is green – so if I relate in any way to Kermit and his song (which I obviously do), I understand why hubby is so attracted to me. I just am not sure how he sees green under all that purple! LOL!!

Lydia!