Perfect Posture

Wouldn't it be nice to have perfect posture and not even have to try? Well... yeah, it's pretty great, actually.

1. It's a great conversation starter. People always comment on it, and depending on who it is and how much time we have, I may or may not give credit to the actual source of my good posture: my two lovely 18-inch rods. But when I do, people always find it fascinating, and I've made a few new friends doing that.

2. It makes everyone else conscious of their posture-- and once in a while, they'll fix it. Mission accomplished.

3. I would like to think that it gives me an authoritative presence, but somehow, I don't think it does.

4. It also makes it basically impossible to fall asleep in class. I have honestly never done that anyway, but it would be pretty hard to sink down into those chairs and take a little snooze with such erect posture.

5. It's great for having a good view during a play or concert. I just feel bad for the people behind me who aren't so blessed with height.

So, it must be pretty wonderful not to have your mom constantly telling you to sit up straight or stop slouching, right? Yep. It is. So we all should just get rods screwed into our spines, right? Ok, maybe not.

1. You don't fit into any chair you're sitting in, from classroom, to car, to airplane. My lower back curves inward, so the only part of my back that even makes contact with the chair is my shoulder blades. And then, since my spine is rotated like a cork screw, by back is uneven against the chair (which is quite painful at times). So I just don't lean against the back of my chair, and it's all good.

2. Perfect posture means no slouching. Period. And slouching comes in handy when you need to bend down to pick up something, when you get the stomach flu and simply want to curl up into a ball and sleep, getting in and out of a car, or even getting a drink from the drinking fountain. But you learn to adjust. It would be nice to have some spinal flexibility when doing things like playing the piano, playing volleyball, putting on shoes, etc.

3. People automatically assume I'm a snob. And I'm not assuming that. They've told me, once they get to know me. :)

4. Being a music major means that many times a teacher will tell everyone to do the "ragdoll." In other words, bend over forward (problem #1) and come up one vertebra at a time (problem #2). So I stand there inconspicuously while the rest of the class is busy stacking their vertebrae back into place.

5. I'm tension-prone. Because I'm so straight, my shoulders are basically in a constant state of tension. But I'm working on that.

It's been over 2 years, and I'm still adjusting. Sometimes I just want to bend my back because I know I can't anymore. But if bending my back is all I'm adjusting to now, I would say that I have a LOT to be thankful for.

So I have perfect posture-- what's your "superhero power?"

Oh, just some random pics of me with good posture. :D