Munira Premji

Dammit Dolls and Making Waves

At the boardwalk on Clearwater Beach, I met the “Dammit Doll” (www.dammitdolls.com). She is a handmade rag doll, about 12 inches tall, rather flat,and plain looking. And she comes with a purpose.  The one I saw was pink and it had the following stitched on to her:

I just got my diagnosis,
And I don’t know what to do.
They told me I have cancer
How can it be true?
Laying in this hospital
Isn’t what I was born for.
I want to be better, so I can live more.
I want to fight, yell and scream
Why is cancer so mean?
I will fight cancer,
Battle and beat it!
Dammit, Dammit, Dammit!

There are dammit dolls for all kinds of situations, and each one comes with a different saying.  They all have a common purpose – to help you release your anger constructively so that you can start to feel better.  And they cost about $13.  The idea is to grab the doll firmly by its legs and slam it at the wall or on the floor, presumably so you can get rid of your frustration. When you slam it, you are supposed to say “dammit, dammit, dammit”.   People who use it say it’s a great stress reliever, and it is a best-seller. I can’t imagine using it myself.  It would cause me severe stress to slam that doll!  But to each his own.

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At the next store, I found a board that had these “Beach Rules” – very cleverly written:

Come out of your Shell
Avoid Pier pressure
Be Shore of Yourself
Don’t get Tide down
Go ahead and make Waves 

I particularly like the one about “Go ahead and make Waves”.  Sometimes I find that we try too hard to conform and to be like everyone else.  I am guilty of this myself.  It’s easy to do what we’ve always done and not upset the apple cart.  But life is short and we all live on borrowed time.  Wouldn’t it be great if we had the courage to discover who we are and what makes us tick?   To be messy, to take risks, to go out of our comfort zone and see what’s possible?  To use all the keys on the piano – not just the ones we are comfortable with?  Life is not a dress rehearsal.  This is all we’ve got.  I now have a new appreciation of time and challenge myself to do or learn one new thing a day.  Sometimes it’s learning a new word or a new game,  Sometimes it’s trying a new salad, or downloading a new app.  Sometimes it’s finding the courage to say no to a request when it doesn’t serve me well.  It’s exhilarating, scary and keeps life interesting.  I love the quote by Dr. Seuss who said, “Why fit in when you were meant to stand out!”  Why indeed?  Go ahead.  Make some waves and put yourself in the front row of your life!