Netflix #StreamTeam: Reinvent Yourself!

Netflix Stream Team

I am a member of the Netflix Stream Team and will be happily sharing monthly tips and stories about how my family uses Netflix on a regular basis. (Okay, that’s an understatement. I should say CONSTANTLY. We use Netflix CONSTANTLY.) This post is sponsored by Netflix, of course!

The Netflix Stream Team Theme (ha! Stream Team Theme! So rhyme-y!) for March is “Reinvent Yourself”. I know a little bit about this, both as an adult and as a kid. Since you’re already fairly familiar with me as an adult, I’m going back further.

My name, as you may have noticed, only has one “s” in it. I always laugh when my mom explains that it’s because she wanted me to be “different”. (One of my sister’s names is spelled in an uncommon—err, different—way, too.) In fact, my mom didn’t even spell my nickname in the common way at first; rather than “M-I-S-S-Y”, she spelled it “M-I-S-S-I-E”. Missie. Although I appreciate this as an adult, I can tell you that as a kid it drove me nuts (I could never find anything personalized, and you know how important that is to a little girl!)

When I was finishing fifth grade, Dad found out that he had been hired to manage a Holiday Inn in Texas, and that summer we would move away from the Chicago area for the very first time. Not being someone who is crazy about change at first (and being an eleven-year-old kid who was comfortable in her house and at her school and with her friends), I was not happy about the move at all. Besides the draw of getting my own bedroom, the only other thing I could think of that excited me about starting over in a new place was being able to tell my new friends that I preferred to be called “Melisa” instead of “Missy/Missie”. It sounded more grown-up and I loved it. To my amazement, they actually USED MY GIVEN NAME as I requested! (I’m still not sure why I was so surprised. Anyway.) I still wasn’t finding anything with my name personalized properly but I felt better that it was my decision.

When we moved to Tennessee a couple of years later, I actually put a lot of thought into my name again and nearly started introducing myself as “Missy”, but decided against it at the last minute. The only exception would be that I allowed my eighth grade boyfriend to call me “Misy” (Missy with one s, because that made more sense to him, and I rather liked that).

The point is, it was my choice to present myself in a certain way while entering a new environment. It’s very freeing to get that opportunity!

By the way, here's a picture from 1981, and yes, that's our BFF Xavier Roberts, creator of the Cabbage Patch Kids.
Yes, that’s our BFF Xavier Roberts, creator of the Cabbage Patch Kids, with mom, my sister and me. 1981 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Need some inspiration to reinvent YOURSELF? Hit up Netflix for “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, Tina Fey’s new series starring Ellie Kemper (I wrote about it last month!), in which all three main characters are busily reinventing themselves.

You can find more with “Dirty Dancing” (incidentally one of my top ten favorite movies of all time), in which Baby Houseman reinvents herself while vacationing with her family at Kellerman’s. You’ll see her go from sweet and girlish to downright womanly over the course of the film, and with Patrick Swayze driving the action, can you blame her? Here’s one of my favorite scenes, which starts to portray her inner changes (okay, and some outer changes too, aided by short shorts and a tank top):

Another reinvention favorite? “Silver Linings Playbook”, starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence as people with mental instabilities who get together to help each other achieve a goal and, well, no spoilers. It’s an excellent movie and I highly recommend it.

There you go! Get to watchin’, and get to having fun reinventing yourself. I highly recommend that, too!

One Comment

  • Kari

    OMG you are like the second person I have seen in that shirt this week.
    I loved that shirt.
    I wish I still had that shirt.
    Let’s bring back the rainbow shirt.
    And I am totally jealous of you having a picture with Xavier Roberts.
    And your mom is totally hot in that picture.
    MEOW.