Yesterday I was hanging out on youtube because what else do you do when you kill your social networking sites? I watched Miranda Lambert (I need to buy more of her albums–I have one but I think she is one of the only actual “country” singers of my generation) and Kelly Clarkson (I don’t need to buy any of her albums) sing Strawberry Wine. (I linked to the original sung by Deanna Carter because it is better.) This song came out when I was thirteen.
I spent weeks crying hysterically when this song came out. I knew that I was not someone who would ever have those memories. At thirteen I had no idea who my “first kiss” was. Those memories are gone.
I can’t remember clearly the first time I felt “loved” in a physical way. I knew long before puberty that I was never going to be the kind of girl who was involved in that kind of love story. I would never be loved like that. I was already dirty.
I thought that I would have a never-ending stream of men and women. I thought there would be no love for me. I thought of myself already as a whore. I didn’t think anyone could love someone like me.
I’ve been reading a lot more writing from sex workers lately. I’ve been reading about their issues with the word whore. I don’t know if I will ever be able to stop thinking of myself as a whore. Just like being white trash–this is part of me. It’s part of me that other people tell me I am not allowed to have because it might reflect badly on them.
I don’t know how to feel like people aren’t telling me to stop existing. What they are really saying is, “Create a world in which I feel always comfortable–never do things that bother me.” They aren’t saying I can’t exist. I should just shut the fuck up.
The song doesn’t make me cry anymore. Instead it makes me think of what I did as a teenager. It’s not bittersweet it’s just sad. I’m exactly the kind of girl that boys like to fuck and then never acknowledge again. I got the few cards and letters from Michael–until I scared him off.
Be quiet Krissy. Don’t be crazy. It don’t matter how you feel. It matters how you look. This is why I have no interest in being a lady. No thanks. God that’s a lot of rules. I’ll stick with being white trash. And offensive.
A friend sent me a link to a gofundme campaign for a book I would probably enjoy reading. I’m nervous about it. But it sounds interesting.
One of the things I am enjoying about getting older is how I see that my feelings of alienation are pretty standard. As bad as I think I feel–it’s pretty common. The things that unite us are greater than the things that divide us.
I think that parties make me feel so bad because I notice over and over how other people can casually tell stories about themselves and their lives without having to carefully look around the room and check to see if everyone in the room is of an appropriate age. I feel dirty and gross. I can’t talk about myself or what I have done in my life. I’m just disgusting. I will horrify people if I do it too casually.
I don’t know how to stop feeling bad about that.
I look around to see how I should edit my life, too. Not to make it G-rated (that’s pretty easy), but to try to gain acceptance. I want to be accepted but my interesting experiences just make people uncomfortable. I don’t want to have to choose between being honest and having friends. I can’t understand people that don’t even think about that choice. I literally avoided disclosing where I worked, for years. Makes small talk sort of a challenge.
I bought that Deana Carter CD when I was 18. Strawberry Wine then – now, too – was about Other People. I love your stories about your past because the feelings aren’t too different, but what creates them? Complete opposite. I ignored romantic love – except that it is common thread of the world I live in – as much as I could; it’s not for people like me. How strange it must be, to listen to random music and not think it is about Other People. People that aren’t broken and wrong.