Insides Out

Project Description

Insides Out, by Tim Atkins.  Originally told at the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship on October 11, 2015, for a service on authentic living.  Note, there are three props needed – grocery bags that you can easily turn inside out during the telling.  Pictures of these, the outside and the inside, are in this post.

Lee was in the kindergarten, and was looking forward to Halloween, his favorite holiday. All of Lee’s friends loved Superheroes – especially Batman. On the playground each day during school they would play superheroes. His parents, knowing how much Lee liked superheroes, occasionally found something Batman themed to decorate his room with, and when his friends would come over, they loved all the cool Batman posters. So, naturally when it was time to go costume shopping, his parents took him right over to the section labelled “boys” and found a batman costume.

But his parents noticed that Lee was being pretty quiet. When Lee got home, he looked at his batman costume and got upset. Just because his friends liked superheroes didn’t mean that he did. His parents never seemed to hear that it was his FRIENDS who liked batman, not him. He wanted to be something else for Halloween – he wanted to be a Disney Princess.

He LOVED the pretty dresses the princesses would wear in the movies. He wants to dress like them instead of batman for Halloween. But he doesn’t know how to tell his parents. He wants his outsides to match his insides.

<set up bag>

Olivia was the star player on her soccer team, which won the state championships last year. She’s a junior in high school, and she’s already being recruited by different colleges to play for their college teams. Even though she never really asked to, she found herself in the “jock” clique at her high school, and most of her friends are on sports teams. But, Olivia has a secret – even though she’s good at soccer, she actually kind of hates it. Her parents are really proud of all the success she’s had but she just doesn’t want to go to college for soccer. She wants to go to college for aeronautical engineering and become an astronaut. She’s a total geek on the inside – she loves reading science fiction books on her kindle, she is trying to learn how to develop an app, and she wants to go to Mars someday. She wants to go to a science fiction con later in the year and dress up like her favorite science fiction characters – they call it cosplay – but it conflicts with a soccer game. And she wants to go to the con instead of the soccer game. But she doesn’t know how to tell her parents. She wants her outsides to match her insides. <set up bag>

John was a family man – had a good career working at a law firm in New York City, a wife who gave up her own ambitions to raise their two children – one in middle school and one in high school. He loves his wife like he loves the rest of the family, but he hasn’t felt romantic love for her…ever. All his life he’s felt pressured to live up to the expectations his parents set for him in life, and what his religious upbringing taught him. So when he started to fall in love with one of his male coworkers, it was a surprise to say the least. And when that very same coworker said he loved John back, it was an even bigger surprise. John is sure that his wife knows there’s never been any romantic love between them, and he wants to finally live the open life he can. But he doesn’t know how to tell his family. He wants his outsides to match his insides. <set up bag>

It can be a scary thing to let your outsides match your insides, to let the world see who you truly are. It can be really scary. You don’t always know how others are going to take it.

Lee told his parents that he wanted to be a princess for Halloween. And you know what? His parents were totally fine with it. Some of his friends didn’t understand, but in the end he was more worried about being a really great princess. And he was the best princess he could be. He truly let his outsides match his insides <flip bag>, and he was so happy that he couldn’t stop smiling all of Halloween night, and even though it was tough, it was worth it.

Olivia told her parents that she wanted to go to the science fiction convention and dress up as her favorite character. Her parents were initially supportive, but they struggled when they found out it was the same time as the big soccer match. They fought about it for a while, and Olivia was to the point where she saw a pretty sad future ahead, only soccer and no space. But her parents eventually came around, and Olivia had the best time of her life at the science fiction convention. She let her outsides match her insides, <flip bag> and even though it was tough, it was worth it.

John had the toughest time out of everyone in our story. His wife and kids really weren’t sure what to think, but together they went and got some professional help. Sometime it takes some help from someone else to let your outsides match your insides. But he was in love, and he was genuinely happy down to his soul for the first time he could truly remember. It took a couple of years, but now he has a great relationships with his kids, his ex-wife, and his husband. He let his outsides match his insides, <flip bag> and even though it was tough, it was worth it.

We all have something on the inside that we hide from the outside world. It can be so tough, so scary, to let that out for the world to see. It might not always be easy, but it will be worth it. And I leave you with this question to think about – what’s on your inside that’s waiting to come out?