Nicoletti 1

Isabella Nicoletti

THTR 342a

Brent Blair

9 Oct 2023

Grin and Bear It: Jaw Challenges

I have found, throughout the years, that I have some serious jaw tension. I am always

aware of how I am positioning my jaw and whether it’s open or closed while I am just generally

existing. I used to have braces and an overbite so I am always very conscious about how my

mouth looks and what it is doing. I often find that it is relaxed or very tense in certain situations.

Most of the time, it is tense in order for me to silence myself, express frustration or express

discomfort. My jaw is the first place where my emotion goes, it is almost like an instinct for it to

engage when something happens. My jaw is usually relaxed when I’m alone or with my best

friend, I feel that those are the only two instances where I feel completely comfortable just

existing and am not super aware of how my mouth looks in general, which I am usually highly

aware of. I allow myself to relax my mouth as well as the rest of my body and I can just exist

without the debilitating thought of “Do I look weird right now?” Even though I love my USC

family, I feel my jaw is always clenched or in some sort of unrelaxed position when I am with

my USC friends or acquaintances. I was a spring admit, therefore, I still find it difficult to make

friends to this day. Everyone has a friend group and I am just “there” it seems. It makes me sad,

but also highly aware of how I look, speak, and act. I would love to just have fun with the people

on campus and not care, but I find it harder every day to release myself from these thoughts. One

day I would love to look at my actions and the way I look as just things that are instead of things

I wish to manipulate.