"Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery"

I’ve noticed that I have a tendency to imitate people. I pick up their behaviors like a common cold. I can’t say that it is a conscious effort to mock the actions of people I know – it just kind of happens and there is no stopping it. Even when I was a baby I used to imitate the faces people would make at me. You can just imagine little Pony, playing with her brothers, making extremely ugly (which by definition, a baby should not be making). Now a days, My mom—very annoyingly—always seems to say “Stop making that face, you’re acting like your brother.” Whenever she says this, I first have to question if I am actually making a face. What if she is just looking at my normal face? If I wasn’t making a face my mom would be burning me (One point for mom). Somehow every time, my mom is right; I look in the mirror and sure enough the weird faces my brother makes magically appear across my face (One point for mom).

But at what point does that face become a Ponyboy face and not a Sodapop face. If I am constantly making it, isn’t it mine? DO I HAVE ANYTHING THAT IS MY OWN? Or are all of my faces and amusing behaviors (that people admire me for) really the behaviors of others? EEEEEEk.

Should I even care? Obviously, if I am imitating a funny behavior, it is because I thoroughly enjoy that behavior. Besides the things I do unconsciously, there are some things that I realize I am copying when I am in the moment. So, when I am imitating a certain behavior, I automatically think of the original source of the behavior and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

My imitations are constantly changing depending on who I have been spending time with. Sometimes, if I am not home, I will forget certain things I say during the summer and I will pick up new sayings. I just wonder if this means that I don’t truly have as unique of a voice as I thought I did. I’d like to think that being a copycat just really means that I am expressing what makes me truly happy, and humor is one of the things I value the most. So in my opinion, I am being truer to myself because on a daily basis I am incorporating into my life the things that fill me to the brim with joy.