Welcome back! Today is the day I explain what a “Helenism” is. I mentioned this in my first blog post and I promised I would elaborate, so here it is!
The definition:
Helenism- a noun, usually happens when someone (Helen) speaks before they (she) thinks and can happen at any moment.
The example:
My family is not from South Dakota and all of our relatives live far away consequently, my family invites friends over for holidays. One Christmas Eve, when I was 11, we had the Duffin family over. They are the kindest people you will ever meet. They have four kids all around the same ages as my siblings and me. They are high achievers, faith filled, unassuming and all extremely smart. As the festivities continued on we decided to play the newest, hottest game out there, Apples to Apples. We were having a great time laughing, making jokes and then tragedy struck! Something came up that had to do with body odor so I tried to make a joke about antiperspirant deodorant. However, my lovely 11-year-old self (clearly old enough to know what antiperspirant was) called it anti-depressant deodorant…
Everyone burst out laughing and I thought it was due to my amazing comedic gift. Oh, boy was I wrong. One of the Duffin kids (he was about 18-years-old) laughed and said “Those must be some pretty happy arm pits,” and the room erupted! As the realization of what I had said sunk in, my face turned bright red and I started perspiring. I wanted to crawl under a rock. I could have really used some of that “anti-depressant” deodorant right then. After giving myself 30 seconds to feel utterly embarrassed I decided to own it and laugh along. That’s why this memory is one of laughter rather than embarrassment.
This tactic comes in clutch on many occasions. Learning to laugh at myself has been an enormous part of my personal growth and becoming who I am today. I’m so thankful I have the ability to see the bright side of these situations!
There you have it, Helenisms: part 1. More to come, stay tuned!
“If love is a treasure, laughter is the key” – Yakov Smirnoff
*Feel free to leave a comment or message me, constructive feedback is great!
The H 