Reader Chloe writes about being different… and proud!
Chloe says:
It's hard, isn't it? Hard trying to be true to yourself when you know you're different. I don't mean different as in you have some huge dark secret or an amazing magical power… just different as in just not like anyone else. People don't like different, you see. They prefer to know who everyone is and exactly what to expect, and if everyone is pretty much the same it makes life a lot easier. When in life you stumble across someone who doesn't mind you not being exactly like everyone else… well, you call them a friend. Finding these friends isn't always easy and you sometimes find yourself spending time with people who don't quite 'fit' with you. Life is a kind of puzzle and everyone makes up a piece of it. Some pieces will fit with yours and some won't… but the thing about a puzzle is that no piece is exactly the same. Every piece is unique, different… that's how it all works!
So… all the time you spend trying to fit in with the crowd, trying to be just like everyone else… well, it won't work, because we are ALL different. We spend our lives pretending to agree, pretending to like things which in reality we don't care anything about… but we pretend we do in order to fit in and be liked. It's human nature - everyone does it. Then, out of the blue, with no warning, someone decides to be who they really are. They decide to stop going along with the crowd and choose to be themselves. So maybe being 'different' is actually just being YOU, just letting yourself be yourself.
Life is too short to follow the crowd. Be the person you are - it's not a right, it's a privilege! I am me and you are you - why pretend to be anything else? Being normal is boring… maybe that's why I stopped!
Pic posed by model Grace… thank you!
Cathy says:
Lots of very thought-provoking ideas here… thank you Chloe! Do YOU ever feel different? COMMENT BELOW to tell us why!
It's hard, isn't it? Hard trying to be true to yourself when you know you're different. I don't mean different as in you have some huge dark secret or an amazing magical power… just different as in just not like anyone else. People don't like different, you see. They prefer to know who everyone is and exactly what to expect, and if everyone is pretty much the same it makes life a lot easier. When in life you stumble across someone who doesn't mind you not being exactly like everyone else… well, you call them a friend. Finding these friends isn't always easy and you sometimes find yourself spending time with people who don't quite 'fit' with you. Life is a kind of puzzle and everyone makes up a piece of it. Some pieces will fit with yours and some won't… but the thing about a puzzle is that no piece is exactly the same. Every piece is unique, different… that's how it all works!
So… all the time you spend trying to fit in with the crowd, trying to be just like everyone else… well, it won't work, because we are ALL different. We spend our lives pretending to agree, pretending to like things which in reality we don't care anything about… but we pretend we do in order to fit in and be liked. It's human nature - everyone does it. Then, out of the blue, with no warning, someone decides to be who they really are. They decide to stop going along with the crowd and choose to be themselves. So maybe being 'different' is actually just being YOU, just letting yourself be yourself.
Life is too short to follow the crowd. Be the person you are - it's not a right, it's a privilege! I am me and you are you - why pretend to be anything else? Being normal is boring… maybe that's why I stopped!
Pic posed by model Grace… thank you!
Cathy says:
Lots of very thought-provoking ideas here… thank you Chloe! Do YOU ever feel different? COMMENT BELOW to tell us why!
Firstly I have entered the wrath of braces, I uncontrollably spit at times. Secondly I'm on a medication, not many people understand it really which annoys me. Finally I am attending a girls' school which often makes me stick out. But I really do think that's cool, often when I'm taking my medication people ask me why or if I'm ok which leads to me feeling touched. In my opinion different is cool and unique and quirky! Xxx
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit confused by that last bit - being yourself isn't a right, it's a privilege? So we don't have the right to be ourselves, we have to earn it? Not the usual positive message I would expect you or your fans to be spreading, Cathy!
ReplyDeleteBlue. :-)
I think we SHOULD have the right to be ourselves, but often we don't, for all kinds of reasons. (For example, you may not have the right to go to school in some countries; or to wear your hair uncovered in some; or to wear it covered in some, conversely. And some countries restrict us according to sexuality or gender and prevent us from having the kind of freedom to do/be things we may take for granted in the UK.) So I'm guessing that the point Chloe is making is that to be yourself is something special… don't take it for granted, and don't turn down the opportunity to be your true self. My take on it, anyway! xxx
DeleteI'm very different, but I've always embraced it. Kids didn't like me either way at primary school (excluding year 2 and 3 because I had a couple friends there before they left for a boys school as so many do where I live).
ReplyDeleteIt would make me angry sometimes - some kids just seemed to get it all and I was left high and dry! However... I've found that the people who are/were my true friends have stuck by me and grown and matured similarly to me. I went to my school formal with a friend I haven't seen properly since I was 10 the other night and I realised that our senses of humour, our values in other people and our attitudes towards school and life have grown similarly. Its true we are all different, but that doesn't mean we won't find like-minded people out there who like us BECAUSE we are different.
Don't lose sight of what matters guys!