What is a "clown"? My thoughts on the matter!

I've been asked this question numerous times. Especially in today's society where the majority of people (at least it feels like the majority), when they hear the term “clown,” automatically think of individuals who scare others as a hobby or living while pretending to be a clown. Clown imposters! (See my face below to see what I think about that!)

You see, a clown is a picture of someone who is out of the ordinary. The clown can run into any problem and eventually (through trial and error) will reach a solution. The clown is someone that is a master at drawing your attention. They take a wilted flower and know just the right magic to make the flower bloom again. To bring it back to life just as they do their audience, whether it be one person or many.

For the time the clown is with their audience, they are taken away into the childlike mind of a clown where there is always something good to come. All of a sudden you realize you have forgotten the problem you were experiencing. Your whole body feels a little better. Your burden seems lighter somehow. You’ve been given the gift, the reminder that there is hope. Sadness and difficulty does not last forever if you can see it in another light. You can now face whatever your burden is with a clearer mind.

A clown has the ability to see things through the eyes of a child. The clown does not allow the age of time to diminish his/her childlike way of seeing the world, but grows more in awe as his age increases. The clown, in fact, brings happiness where there is sadness, wonder where there is a lack of imagination, an ear for those who need to be heard, or a tear when someone needs to be sad. His make-up or costume is the beginning impression to those around, and shows that he is no ordinary person. He's someone special—someone who will not just think inside the box or whose big shoes and red shiny nose are small in comparison to the size of his/her heart. He's someone who will make you feel like you are the most special person in the room. In doing so, a clown gives his heart so that yours can feel better…and somehow before you know it...it does.

That, to me, is what a clown truly is.