Always the Hostess, Never the Guest

I remember the first time I watched 27 Dresses starring Katherine Heigl and James Marsden. I was in my freshman year of high school and watching it with my mom on our living room couch. I was fascinated by the life of Heigl's character who was "Always, always, always the bridesmaid." I knew the expression 'always the bridesmaid, never the bride' then and laughed at the comedic romance that unfolded in the movie. Heigl's character was sweet, but a bit too easy-going when it came to what other people wanted. Basically, she let most people and scenarios run all over her.

Looking back at that movie now (and having recently watched it), it's apparent that people took Hiegl's niceness for granted. Even she realizes this at the end and takes it out on her sister in a very passive aggressive (but mostly aggressive) way.

At this point in my life I have to ask myself, am I Hiegl's character? We have similar traits: hyper-organized, reliable, somewhat goody two-shoes, like to take care of everyone, often say yes when we really want to say no, and forget to take time for ourselves. This is far from me tooting my own horn. I am just at the point in my life now that I realize who I am and what my role is in my friend group and beyond. I am always the hostess...and hardly ever the guest. This is self-appointed and built on years of wanting things to be perfect and fun and forgetting that 1) life is far from perfect and 2) when you're the one making the fun, you often forget to partake in it.

I doubt I'll stop being the hostess, but I think it is important to show others that I can be something else as well. After all, a well-balanced life involves pushing yourself out of bounds sometimes and, more importantly, accepting who you are without sacrificing who you think you should be.