I was sitting at the table between A&W and Opa!. I watched people, some fat, some thin, some attractive, many ugly… lots of grey hair, lots of blond, lots of brown. Some Asians, tons of whites, a couple Middle-Easterners. One ginger. Some people had tattoo sleeves, some had eclectic fashion tastes, some had blindingly sparkly earrings. Every person was different.
But everyone was the same.
They talked. They ate. Cell phones and napkins and auto-pilot buttons activated. In this food court, the conformity was overwhelming. We as humans revel in our uniqueness, admire ourselves for being distinct individuals different unalike one another. But simply put, “dude, we’re the same.”
The world in which we live has unspoken rules. Do this. Do that. It has applied a set of standards we are obligated to meet. Growing up we’re told that it is good to explore, to be creative and to be our own person. That we are free to do as we wish, to expand on what makes us happy. Nobody ever said anything about the fact that our self–creativity is to be limited though; I didn’t realize there was a maximum amount. It comes down be different, but not too different. Be interesting with your choice of clothing, but tone it down a tad. I think of it as you are told be self-anarchic, but if you’re told to be anarchic, well… that’s not really anarchy now is it? My question is “why?”
The things in life that we love are the ones that influence us most. Perhaps your love is something “acceptable” like biking or taking pictures. Maybe it is the outdoors and skiing or maybe it is indoors and shoes. Or maybe you are on the other end of the spectrum, and your love it drawing varying cylindrical objects on Post-Its and sticking them all over yourself while dancing the Macarena. Weird, right? But why is that weird? The source of your happiness is entirely an individual thing that nobody needs to understand other than yourself. If doing x pleases you, the reason you are looked differently upon, mocked, or questioned is because each has our own individual preferences. I may not like what you do, I may not even understand it. But I don’t need to understand it. There is no reason why I should have to understand why you love something. If you love it, don’t let anybody alter your thoughts. Nobody can control your preferences or tastes. You love peanut butter baths, then run with it.
Life is about finding joy in things, so when you do find something, make you sure you hold to it. You go with it. Nobody is allowed to take that from you. And sure you may feel limited with your choices, or feel as if you cannot move forward at times. You may feel like you are being forced to conform. Forced to be the same. Forced to be a different shade of black. But just remember: the best place to expand your self is by not going to a food court.
