The Moment of Truth

I never thought my video would go viral. In fact, I always thought I was just an ordinary girl from Wichita. Maybe it was the mere fact that becoming someone famous seemed impossible, but from the fact I have always been shy. How could someone like me become someone remotely video-viral? No one would notice an introverted girl who talked far less than anyone else in her family. As a sister of five, and the second to last, being ignored or tolerated because of my shy, less talkative side nature seemed like the more obvious choice. The truth was, because of my silence, people could easily forget I was more aware of everyone around me. I knew more about my family then they seemed to know about themselves. And I didn’t mind, even in all the chaos of their big personalities. And maybe that’s how this all started, this one moment of truth. Three words: Baker Lawn Oaks. Three dreaded words since I can long remember. Every year my family would gather around a famous tree in our town. We named this tree after our last name: Baker. And since the street was called Lawn Oaks, it seemed like the most obvious name choice to clash together. Everyone in my family loved this tree as if a part or even a member of our family. In fact, our entire family has owned Baker Lawn Oakes since day one. The very beginning of this tradition all started when my great-great-great grandparents started taking photos underneath this tree and since then, the tradition remained. By remembering them, the tradition made the reunion all the more special. And in truth, the tree was never the problem, it was always the family that gathered beneath. It helped that our family lived near one another so we could take this photo annually and that was their choice. In fact, by our yearly devotion to Baker Lawn Oakes, the whole town supported our family by saving the tree when new development came in. As new houses were being built, they saved this Baker Lawn tree just for our family. But from a viewer from both sides, it wasn’t the “support” of the town that granted this wish, but mainly because our family made a big deal about it. They pushed and demanded until they were heard. I guess that’s one good thing about having a loud family. In the end, they would always win. But with or without the history or tradition, I have always had a love-hate relationship with this tree since day one. As much as I appreciate the history behind it, something about the endless photos, long days of family gossip and the incessant talk, plus the humidity that ruined every good hair day, seemed to ruin this mental image of this tree and the family gathering. It mostly wasn’t the tree’s fault, but the fact it had brought everyone together. When everyone gathered and chatted, my aunts and uncles did try to care at least, a little. But in most cases, it was mere petty talk. It started with a “hello, how are you?” and ended when someone else more important walked by. It never fully developed into anything deeper. But as much as there were bad days, the good days could have outshined them all. At least, I had hoped...But one year in particular, as I stood next to all of my nieces, uncles, aunts, parents, and siblings, the moment occurred when the photo clicked. But this time,  it wasn’t a photo. A video played instead. And I didn’t see it coming nor did I expect it. And in that moment, that particular moment, a bird decided to be very generous to me. And unfortunately, the dropping made its way to my freshly styled hair. The one year I decided to put more effort into how I looked and what color lipstick I chose to wear. But that decision didn’t matter at that moment anymore. Everything that mattered seemed to be gone. My dignity seemed forever damaged. This is how the viral video came to be. Although I didn’t know or even wish for the video to get published, my sneaky nephews figured out a way. With the help of my auntie, the goop washed down the sink after some scrubbing. Then, at such an inopportune time, my nephews told me with cheeky grins jumping up and down. Why they chose to tell me or even why they uploaded is beyond me. That one click changed my life. Once I knew, the views racked up before I could even tap “delete.” In truth, I was horrified to realize that my video was uploaded without my consent. My family comforted me after a few laughs but I was still in half terror and disbelief. But what could I do now? What irritated me the most was how the video was played instead of an annual photo. It took some time to recover before I freaked out. And after some time to rethink, I surprised myself at that time. The more I thought about it, the more calmer I became. It didn’t seem to matter anymore to me even as I saw the views getting higher and higher. After a deep breath, I realized that this was an uncontrollable situation, at least, from my end. Whether I would be known as the “bird girl” forever wasn’t my choice. Although my embarrassment was real, I learned a valuable lesson. You can’t always be too scared of what people think of you. Even though almost everyone I met knew and had seen my video, it didn’t seem to matter anymore. And as an introvert, it can be hard to come to grips with that fact of letting go. But from that viral video, I learned something else: maybe it’s not always how someone becomes famous, but what they do with the fame. Which brought me to my final question...what would I do with my fame?