Are you a WYSIWYG?

A few days ago I sat across from an acquaintance, and I watched as his hands danced delightfully in the air, a common occurrence whenever he’s telling a good story. A buzzing sound breaks his concentration. His cell phone, wrapped in a bright purple casing—a color usually favored by teenage girls rather than professional men—bounced around on the wooden desk, letting him know he had a new text message. He held up his index finger, a gesture to excuse himself for a moment, and turned in his chair. Picking up the phone, he smoothed out his bright green tie and tilted his head back to read the message through his glasses. He chuckled and then turned his attention back to his story. As he crossed his legs, I noticed his argyle socks were brown and dark orange. I smiled to myself as I looked at his pink shirt and wondered if he cared that he was the epitome of a fashion faux pas.

Having known this guy for a while, I know that he doesn’t care what people think about his choices—not just in clothing, but in other aspects of his life as well. He once told me he liked the color pink… so he wears it. He doesn’t have an affinity for the color purple, but he does enjoy knowing where his phone is and the purple color makes it stand out, making it easier to find.

I have come to know that he isn’t one to conform to rules just because they are rules, and he has no problem with questioning the status quo. He makes no excuses for the things he finds humorous and treats all four letter words as if they were equal.

Over the past few months, I have begun to think of him as a WYSIWYG: What You See Is What You Get. He doesn’t seem like the type to put on a facade just to try and fit in with a particular crowd. He appears to be genuinely comfortable with who he is, and I find that quite fascinating.

Has he always been a WYSIWYG? Or is it something you can only achieve when you’ve experienced a bit of life? I admit, I would like to be a WYSIWYG, but I think that would probably require knowing who I really am. It would also mean being self-confident and believing that it’s OK just to be me. I’m not quite there… yet. Maybe I just need to go through a little more BS in my life before I finally say ‘enough!’ and turn into a WYSIWYG. It seems like an attainable goal, don’t you think?