How did I become a Lit
Chick? How does anyone become a Lit Chick?
You would think that we would have a secret society. That we disguise ourselves in the shadows of
book clubs when in all actuality we are rival street gangs that diagram
sentences and participate in fight clubs.
For anyone who has ever said, “sticks and stones may break my bones but
words will never hurt me” was obviously never hit with a dictionary. Our verbiage cuts like daggers, our wit
pierces like knives.
We are the proud,
the few, the cat ladies…we are the Lit Chicks.
In my studies, I have
found that there is a simple equation as to how unsuspecting girls gets
transformed into crazy, articulate, grammar checking, spelling Nazis.
You take:
1 part girl, any age
will do
2 parts fantasy, Disney
and Fairy Tales preferred
1 part fiction, either
fan, non, or semi
Equal parts dreamer and
romantic
A dash of nerd, a pinch
of geek
A sprinkle of social
awkwardness
Mix ingredients
together and place in either a library, book store, Shakespearean sonnet
read-a-thon, or creative outlet and let simmer for the length it takes to read “Gone with the Wind.”
Remove, serve in
second-hand store attire, sweater and horn rimmed glasses optional, and
enjoy.
SUCCESS! You just grew your very own Lit Chick.
 |
| "She's alive! And she can read Latin!" |
I was cleaning out some
papers this afternoon and came across one of my journals that I had back in
college. It was the semester I was
taking Children’s, Young Adult, and Women’s Literature. That, my friends, was my turning point into
madness. That is when I became Lit Chick
Macy. Instead of credit cards falling
out of my wallet when I dropped it, library cards went flying. The phrase, “I don’t want to see that
movie. The book was better,’ started
making its way into my vernacular.
Coffee became my best friend. I
would snap instead of applauding at poetry slams. I even refused to go on a date with a guy
because he had never heard of Paradise Lost!
 |
| #nerdgirlproblems |
Not to jump topics, but
speaking of lost, upon finding that journal, I realized that going back and
rereading my 2008 counterparts ideas made me feel nostalgic for how I used to
be. What I used to care about. I missed me at that point. I knew who I was at that point in time, and I
want that back! I was the artsy girl who
liked French films and wanted to be a secret smoker like Margot
Tenenbaum. I would stay up late at
night and read and recite poetry like it was the ABC’s. I miss it all.
Moving to Austin was
the best decision I have ever made. But
for the past 9 months I have felt stunted, my mind clouded by thoughts of my
parents, old friends, relationships that never were, romances that will never
be. I have re-placed myself physically,
but not mentally. I lost myself in the
move.
 |
| Along with winter coats and lunch boxes, I might find myself here. |
So what do I plan to
do? I plan to get myself back. I want to be someone I am proud to be. I want to wake up in the mornings to a
routine and a lifestyle that fits who I am now.
I am not the same person I was when I was living in Fort Worth. That chick is long gone, and to be honest,
parts of her can stay gone. I am keeping
only the best from my former self and allowing it to stay her in ATX.
Henry David Thoreau
said, “Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.” I am finding myself again in Austin. I am taking the best parts of my parents,
mixing them with the ingredients I care to keep of myself, and rolling them
around and shaping them together to make a new person. We are all evolving, even we book worms. Perhaps the next stage for us Lit Chicks is
transforming into Literature Ladies.
Now if you will excuse
me, I have some personal business to take care of.
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