What a Shame - Ananya Bhardwaj (Week 14)

You lay in bed, moments from drifting off into sleep—and it hits you. The image of that cringe-inducing thing you said when you were eight, the time you tripped over nothing and fell in public, and that embarrassing Michael Jackson impression you did during your POAS presentation even though your presentation wasn't even focused on Michael Jackson (that one might just be specific towards me) all flash through your mind. Shame and humiliation all run rampant; you feel a blush heat up your face as you’re being haunted by all of your embarrassing memories.

Source: Glamour UK


When thinking of the topic of memories, nostalgia and meaningful happy moments tend to come to mind—embarrassment is sort of the anti-nostalgia. It’s what keeps us in check; it makes us realize that there was never a better time. For all of the memories you have laughing with your loved ones, there are also the times where you’ve felt lonely, angry, spiteful—and yes, embarrassed. 


It’s easy to forget these negative emotions; most of the time, they leave as the sun rises to begin a new day. Shame and embarrassment work differently—they stick, they loom, they haunt. These negative memories and feelings can be draining; however, if it is leveraged properly, embarrassment can serve as a great motivator. Harnessing memories that make us feel upset can help turn situations around, but they can also lead to self-improvement. Reflection is key to navigating life, for all its rough patches and hard times. Negative memories can also help people to reevaluate their current situations—after all, if you continuously feel just as humiliated and embarrassed due to the way certain people treat you, it can be a sign to move on or make some changes in your social life.


Bad memories don’t exist to be completely terrible; they can teach invaluable lessons, and they can bring a realistic factor when nostalgia clouds our judgement.


Comments

  1. RitishaApril 7, 2025 at 7:59 PM

    Hi Ananya,
    The title of your blog caught my attention. As I read the introduction I felt that same feeling your describing all over again, I havent ever related to something this quickly and the reason for that is because just recently, today when I was presenting my person of American significance project..I started to cry. I didn’t cry because I was stuck on a word, or because I was saying something wrong, or because of anything else. I cried because I was embarrassed. As I continued reading I realize that the comparison you used to describe embarrassment is so accurate! Shame and embarrassment are something that you can’t get rid of because of the intensity to which you felt those emotions in a particular moment. And I like how you took these emotions in a different perspective and accounted for why they are important and the contributions- even though the process of humiliation is painful that these moments give us. They teach us things that we wouldn’t have known otherwise.

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  2. Yumi LiuApril 7, 2025 at 11:07 PM

    Hi Ananya! Your blog title was so eye-catching! To start off, your POAS presentation was amazing, it is definitely one of the most memorable ones for me! I totally relate to how after the POAS presentation there are moments of flashbacks and embarrassment. I was on my car ride back home after the presentation, and I just had a moment where I remembered when I forgot my lines for my presentation. Now that I look back on it, it was not as embarrassing as I remembered but negative memories surely do help with self improvement. Matter of fact, for my next presentation that is similar to POAS I will make sure I have my notecards well written and prepared for worst case scenarios.

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