Sometimes I question why I bother doing or sharing the weird little things that I do.
And I have to remind myself that I value uniqueness and individuality, even if I’m still struggling hardcore with accepting myself.
Lately, a huge focus of mine can be summed up in these two words:
“Be weird.”
All of the people I admire, that do things and make changes in the world:
They are all very different; there’s nobody quite like them.
There’s a ton of pressure to do things a certain way,
And there’s also a lot of pressure to “be ourselves.”
I’ve had a hard time filtering out what’s “me” and who I feel I’m “supposed to be.”
(The mind can be a deceptive thing.)
And the only way I’m going to keep figuring things out about myself:
Be weird.
Do stuff that sometimes makes no sense.
Try different things.
Go against the grain.
Follow abnormal curiosities and strange inclinations.
See what works and what doesn’t.
Hold onto what does, toss the rest.
When I think about the “weird” things I’ve done, I’ve realized that a lot of the times they have led to interesting improvements in my life.
(Or at the very least, realizing that it’s not the end of the world when I make myself look like a fool.)
For example — I wouldn’t have gotten to meet any of the amazing friends through dance and WCS if I didn’t make a choice to “be weird” and do something so far out of my left field.
At the end of the day, to me: being weird is less about trying to “stand out.” It’s more about accepting who we really are, and spending more time and energy around the people that actually accept or admire us for who that is.
We’ll never find those people if we keep worrying about what others think.
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“Stop right now trying to be the person you think people want you to be. Take the time to figure out who you are, why you are here and what your purpose is. And yes, it’s an absolute bitch.”
– Dan Meredith in How to Be Fucking Awesome
