An Ode To The Jaw-Drop | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Entertainment

An Ode To The Jaw-Drop

Thoughts about awe, tragedy and the mandible.

241
An Ode To The Jaw-Drop
DisneyScreenCaps

Sometimes, reflections about life can stem from a place you wouldn't expect. For me, it was a throwaway quote from a stern Englishwoman. I can just see the scene now: Mary Poppins, after nonchalantly ascending a staircase by floating up its railing, greets the Banks children—their mouths agape—with a playful quip, "Close your mouth please, Michael, we are not a codfish."

Same, Michael. Same.

Dropping your jaw is usually instinctual, an involuntary reaction to something shocking. Whether that shock is a result of something unbelievably beautiful or devastatingly horrific is another story. Nevertheless, the act itself of allowing my lower lip to unhinge from my upper has become a bit more commonplace than usual lately and I'm sorting out exactly why that is.

I'll admit that catching flies once held very little interest for me. As someone who thrives off of always having a plan, surprise can frighten me to a fault. That being said, there's also something refreshing about the unexpected. Allowing yourself to feel pure awe and amazement, feeling your breath escape from your mouth in a huff, stolen by an extraordinary moment. Dropping your jaw can come from an instance as simple as hearing a swell in your favorite song. It can capture more complicated feelings of wonder and marvel, like those experienced when stepping onto a New York City street for the first time or catching a glimpse of Cinderella Castle on your way down Main Street U.S.A. A jaw-drop can come from the sudden impact of a particularly good comeback, or a plot twist on 'Game of Thrones,' or the sight of a friend you haven't seen in a while or the discovery of a cute dog walking right in your path. In any of these cases, dropping your jaw is a welcome reaction to sudden change.

However, there are also times when the jaw-drop is in response to some unwelcome change. For instance, I know how I feel whenever I wake up to a news alert describing the latest in a long slew of tragedies. I know how I feel when I hear about yet another person or group being murdered because of the color of their skin, because of the uniform that they wear, because of who they love or because their slaughter was simply deemed necessary by the path of a bullet. Moments like those are when dropping your jaw is less of an expression of amazement and more one of fear, indignation and anguish. Hearing these stories of sickening violence and death makes me wonder just how many jaws have dropped in response to them and the thought of that scale is not comforting.

My hope is that our jaws will continue to drop, not because there is an overload of unrest in this world but because someday we find our way back to believing in the unexpected. The next time you have to pick your open mouth up off the floor, I sincerely hope that it's the result of an event so wonderful that you just can't control your face, like Michael Banks witnessing his new gravity-defying nanny. And if a wonderful moment turns out not to be the case, then I hope that whatever tragedy causes our jaws to drop next is the one that finally results in some much-needed change, at the very least for the sake of our mandible.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Health and Wellness

5 Ways To Bring Positivity Into Your Life When All You Want To Do Is Drown In Self-Pity

It seems like life has been serving up more bad than good and in all honesty, the only thing you want to do is crawl under your covers and hide from the rest of the world.

84
5 Ways To Bring Positivity Into Your Life When All You Want To Do Is Drown In Self-Pity
Photo by Kinga Howard on Unsplash

The first two weeks of classes have come to an end and they have been anything BUT easy. It seems like life has been serving up more bad than good and in all honesty, the only thing you want to do is crawl under your covers and hide from the rest of the world.

Although this seems like the best solution, it is also the easy way out. Take it from the girl who took basically a whole week off from her life because she just could not handle everything that was being thrown at her. This caused her to feel extremely lonely and even more stressed out for being behind in classes that JUST began.

Keep Reading...Show less
friends

1. Thank you for being my person.

2. Thank you for knowing me better than I know myself sometimes.

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

11 Things We Learned From Brooke Davis

"What's more important? What we become or how we become it?"

59
Brooke Davis

"She was fiercely independent, Brooke Davis. Brilliant, and beautiful, and brave. In two years she had grown more than anyone I had ever known. Brooke Davis is going to change the world someday, and I'm not sure she even knows it." - Lucas Scott, An Unkindness of Ravens

Brooke Davis of the hit show One Tree Hill was the it girl - she had it all, or so we thought. She started out as a stuck-up, shallow, spoiled, head cheerleader who didn't have her life together. She slept around a lot and loved to party - sounds like your typical high school teenager right? Wrong. B. Davis had so much more to offer. Caring, loyal, and outspoken, she has taught us some valuable lessons throughout the 9 seasons that OTH was on the air:

Keep Reading...Show less
Honorary Roommate
Rachel Zadeits

For some of us, coming to college was the first time we ever had to share a room. It was a big change, but a fun one. As you meet more and more people over the course of your college career, it seems to be a pattern that you will at some point have that one friend that doesn't live with you, but acts like they do. We call those people, "Honorary Roommates" and here are 11 signs you have one in your life.

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

10 Reasons Why It's Awesome When Your Best Friend Gets New Friends

She may not be with you 24/7 but it's all good because you're soul sisters.

1912
super friends
Gabi Morales

We all have a person, and when that person makes some new friends, we tend to forget all the great things that can come out of it. Never forget how special they are to you and why you are best friends.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments