50 Shades Of Wrong

 

 

 It was my first day of Drawing Anatomy class and I was nervous. So nervous that I showed up 30 minutes early. I thought that perhaps talking to my professor before the class would help to settle my nerves a little. Ten minutes later, instead of the professor,  a blonde haired medium built, very attractive man with an athletic frame walked in. Since it was only the two of us there so far, we greeted each other and immediately struck up a conversation. This guy was so confident and so very easy to talk to to!  We discussed all manner of subjects including our home countries, he is from Scandinavia and I am from the Bahamas which made for some pretty interesting questions and stories. Before we knew it, the rest of the students began to come in and our Bob Ross look -a -like teacher was ready to start his class. He introduced himself and welcomed us to out first Anatomy class and then he asked the model for the day to come forward so we could begin. Would you believe the model was the guy I was prattling to for 30 minutes??? So let's call him "Tom for discretion purposes".  Tom got up, expertly peeled off all his garments and stood before us in ALL his male glory. As if that wasn't bad enough, he now had a friend he could "focus" on in the class to make him feel more comfortable. ME.  

First Pose, a straight armed plank with both legs positioned as far as the east is from the west......while intently staring me down. That pose combined with gravity, which was very present and at work, told a visual story that I would gladly pay to delete from my brain.  I was praying for dear life at this time. "LORD please let this cup pass from me". You see, in the Bahamas, we wear ALL our clothes and we take pride in that. Though unspoken, we believe that nudity is for married folks and babies. This is why my fav TV show is Naked and Afraid.  I can't do Naked without the AFRAID.  I was raised that way. 

 Everyone was drawing except me. I was mortified and  grossly uncomfortable. The embarrassment was almost tangible. Thankfully I had managed to start sketching but man was I struggling. Now Tom was on his second pose. A Cirque du Soleil contortion of sorts. He balanced on his shoulders with his legs pointed straight up towards the heavens, then, slowly with deliberation, he parted his legs as far apart as they could physically go.  And yes, STILL looking at me.  Always looking at me.

 

 

 By this time my professor noticed that I was not progressing very well so he came over to see what the problem was. He look one look at my drawing and noticed that my sketch had a blank space where Tom's private parts were supposed to be. He tapped my sketch book aggressively with his pencil, ...."Have you ever seen a man with a blank spot there????"  Without waiting on me to reply he looked me dead in the eyes and said very sternly,

  "DRAW IT!"   

So now, I was given a command and what I was not going to do is destroy my 3.9 GPA for this absurd drama. 

 All I can tell you is, I gathered my composure, pulled myself all the way together and I started drawing. I focused and drew. To this day, it was one of the hardest projects I ever completed. It was straight up spiritual and psychological warfare combined with the unfamiliarity of drawing the human anatomy, which is a difficult undertaking in itself. Despite it all, I decided to just do my best. Tom was in his element by this time doing a full split and smiling like a cat who confiscated all the cream. He totally misread my new found focus on him. He did not know that I was now locked in only because of my GPA.  That I was determined to NOT let 50 Shades of Tom defeat me. 

Needless to  say I got through that class and I passed with flying colors!  3.9 GPA intact. I also learned a very valuable lesson. One person's comfort zone could be another person's Achilles heel.  Tom is a very confident man. clothed or unclothed.  It was I who was not  ready for Tom the "bare version" and he was totally oblivious of that. He was in his comfort zone, I was not. And so from that point on I NEVER judge a person based on their appearance or underestimate what they are capable of, good or bad.  I let them Show me who they are first. 

 

Cherio!