Who do you imitate?

September 29, 2021

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I imitate others more than I’d like to think, not as in mimicking but more as in reproducing what I see. I suspect that is true for many of us, whether a positive or negative reproduction in our lives.

For example, last week I was at a weekend outdoor market. I saw a woman wearing a pair of block heel mid-calf two-inch boots with shorts and a cute top and I was smitten, and immediately wanted to replicate that in my wardrobe. I thought, what a nice style as we welcome Fall weather here in Virginia.

It’s not a new phenomenon to see our youth and adults imitate the dances of their favorite singers/dancers, in all genres of music. For me, it’s Indian, Soca, and Reggae music/dance. It is beautiful to watch a person enveloped in the rhythm of music that whispers to their souls. And I especially love to watch the disabled or elderly sway or stomp down the roofs to the melodies they receive from artists belling out their favorite tunes.

I have observed other adults, at work and socially, speak a certain way, use a certain pace in their speech, or use various intonations, and vocabulary. I have no shame replicating these in my own presentation of myself. I have also reproduced something I believe it might have been what Oprah Winfrey once described. It is learning to sit and wait and wait and wait and wait, and continue to sit, while being still and exhibiting calm and composure; until it is my turn to present an idea, a speech, etc. Many times in life, that is what we will be called to do, as we wait our turn, whether we wait on renowned or everyday people just like us. The ability to just sit and wait without fiddling or getting up and moving around is one that must be practiced for most of us, but one that we should perfect. It is a behavior that comes in handy both professionally and socially.

More to come…