'Fine & Dandy'

The last concert I went to was Green Day in March, entirely too long ago. I have two concerts coming up, back-to-back, later this month—Weezer on the 26th and John Mayer on the 27th. To prepare, I loaded my Weezer and John Mayer albums onto my iPod.

On the drive home from yoga tonight, Weezer's "Pork & Beans" came through on shuffle. It was exactly what I needed to hear, so I repeated it. The song's lyrics were written in response to a meeting the band's members had with their record label about doing more-commercial work and celebrates self-love and acceptance.

"I don't give a hoot about what you think," Rivers Cuomo sings in the chorus. I thought that growing older gives confidence and that you stop caring so much about other people's opinions. Sadly, that's not the case.

I don't want to apologize for myself, my life, my decisions or my circumstances. I don't want to be embarrassed about who I am or ashamed about who I'm not. I don't want anyone else's opinion of me have more weight than my opinion of myself. Like Rivers sang, I want to be "fine and dandy with the me inside."

I do feel more comfortable in my skin at 35 than I did at 15 or 25, but there are still times when I waver. Like the guys in Weezer, I know the key is remembering who I am and staying true to that, then all that outside noise will quiet down.