Putty People

I was watching the movie "Elizabethtown" last night. Although Kirsten Dunst's character made me want to poke my eyes out with a fork, there was a concept raised that I found interesting both personally and socially.

One of the characters defines themself as "a substitute person" - impossible to forget, but hard to remember. A person who willingly and wholy fills in the blanks that others leave. I prefer to refer to someone as a "putty person", since "substitute" implies "sub", "below", "less than". People in those roles aren't less than people - they simply serve a role as a filler.

I thought about it for a bit. And then I deliberated about my roll in other's lives, particularly in relationships. Verdict?

Oh shit. I'm a putty person.

Now, this isn't like when you see the commercials for Restless Leg Syndrome and then are convinced that you have that ailment to go with the Panic Disorder brought on by the Paxil commercial. I really think that I've served as a putty person for the better percentage of my relationships.

Let's think about it. I go for workaholics, alcoholics, freakaholics, xboxaholics, any -aholic (how come "alcoholic" isn't "alcohalic"?) you can think of. And really, -aholics find plenty of space in their life for whatever it is that they are addicted to, and only have time and emotional energy for putty people - which is where I come in.

And that's NO BUENO, my little friends. No bueno whatsoever.

Now, no worries, I'm not about to bust out the littlest violin and cry myself to sleep, because I think this is positive - this is an epiphany. If anything, all my -aholics have taught me that recognizing the issue is the first step to recovery (or something like that). I don't WANT to be just filler. I don't DESERVE to be just filler. Hell no, we won't go.

It's time to quit emptying my efforts into men (well, boys, in my opinion) who enable me to be such. Peace out putty people seekers, this girl is through with you.

(And thank you Cameron Crowe for enlightening me. But, next time, please make a better movie for me to receive my message through, because "Elizabethtown" sucked.)