Soul Toupee

Thanks to Conor H and Adam T I regularly listen to the wonderful Mockingbird podcast. If you enjoy listening to podcasts concerning faith I encourage you to give it a try. I believe they do an excellent job of exploring places where they see grace and its absence. In this past week’s episode, they brought up a term that they had used earlier but I had not had the fortune of hearing. The phrase is “soul toupee”.

A “soul toupee” is what one of their friends uses to describe the behavior that a person does to cover up an insecurity of theirs that in fact only draws all the more attention to the insecurity, like a really bad toupee calls attention to the lack of hair that the toupee wearer is so desperately trying to prevent us from noticing. If you have ever seen a really bad toupee you will get the image. It is hard to look away from it.

The attempts to look and act younger than a person is probably acts in the same manner. As a fan of The Office I can’t help but think of the time that Creed, scared for his job, tried to convince everyone he was 30 years old.

All Creed’s behavior does it draw all eyes to him. SIDE NOTE – I love Creed in The Office. Back to the too young behavior, being older is a good thing, and dressing and acting like you are twenty merely tells everyone around you that you are UNcomfortable being older.

I know I can relate to the behavior of trying to cover up something I don’t feel great about. I am reminded of my insecurities often and every now and then I catch myself doing something in an attempt to hide them. Like other people can’t see through my attempts to hide my insecurities. Ha! I’m sure my attempts are often pretty hysterical.

If only I can remember that I am accepted, loved, and belong – insecurities, failures, and all. There is no need for a “soul toupee” when you realize being bald isn’t a detriment.

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