Be different. Be weird. What is normal?

I read this post by my friend Sam earlier this evening. It prompted some serious thinking. 

The timing of Sam’s post is quite good, because earlier today I had a discussion with 2 friends of mine (let’s call them Batman and Tinkerbell) about this exact thought – what is normal, and why should we all embrace our differences? My friend “Tinkerbell” said it perfectly today, she told me that my normal is different than her normal and her normal is different to that of anyone else. 

  
I tend to agree. Our individual normal is who we are as people…deep down inside. This includes our quirks. In this sense, the differences in our individual quirks are important in maintaining individuality. 

Individuality is awesome. The little things that make each of us different, and even slightly weird, is what comes together and ultimately makes us, us! There’s beauty in being unapologetically real, it shows who we really are and what is important to our most inner self.

I leave you with a quote from Albert Einstein – “It is important to foster individuality, for only the individual can produce the new ideas.” 

I must confess…

When I read over at My home truths that it was an open prompt for ‘I must confess’ this week, I knew it was the perfect bloggy kick up the backside I needed to write what’s been on my mind for a little while now. So, without further ado…

I must confess…why I started writing. 

All my life, I’ve been creative. Not in a drawing sort of way…I can’t draw to save my life! But my creativity lies in my writing. Words just work with me. Writing is, for me, the easiest way to communicate..even more so than verbal (and anyone who knows me knows that I can talk a lot, so saying writing is easier is quite huge! Haha). If I don’t know how to say something, i write it. Many times I’ve started a letter or an email with “I don’t have the words to express this verbally, but…” It just comes to me easier. 

Having said that, you’re probably expecting me to have blogged or written things for people to read all my life. However the truth is, that isn’t the case. This blog came into existence in August 2013. Not even 2yrs ago. Prior to this, my writing was all very secret. Word documents saved on my laptop hard drive and notebooks filled with different thoughts, stories and general mind dumps…sort of like this blog, just the notebook and pen version! 

When I was in high school, I was told by quite a few people that writing wasn’t a real job and I should forget about it and put my energy into something that’s going to make me a living. So I did. I didn’t write as much, and even when I did, I told no one about it. I focused on what I thought made me happy and what I thought allowed my creative juices to flow. 

I wasn’t happy. 

After a friend suggesting for quite a while that I start to write, something clicked. Who cares if writing doesn’t make me a millionaire? We all need side projects to keep our minds happy, focused and to allow for personal direction. So I slowly gained confidence in my ability to write and over the last (almost) 2yrs, my blog has become my oasis. My creative juices have an outlet and my passion for writing is on show for the world (ok, maybe for my friends and family who actually read my posts) to see! 

I have dreams of where I want my writing to take me…I have a book idea that tells the tale of my journey with my health and the impact made to my life by some amazing ladies who I met along the way (one of which, dear Lucy – who I’ve written about here, here, here and also here). So, my writing aspirations are far from finished. I have a lot more to give, but for now, I’m happy for my little blog to be my outlet and my haven. And I’m so happy that, even with everything that was said to me going through my teenage years, I let myself write and I let people read what I write. 

I must confess…embarrassing songs on my iPod

After seeing a link up this morning by Living my imperfect life where bloggers are publicly admitting the embarrassing songs on their iPod, I thought I’d join in the fun.  It wasn’t until I focused on looking through what is on my iPod, I realised the potential for embarrassing songs playing in the car…especially when there’s people in the car with me! 

Disney: It starts with the whole album of Disney songs. Songs from all the Disney movies I grew up watching. My favourites are ‘A whole new world’ from Aladdin, ‘I just can’t wait to be king’ from The Lion King, ‘Under the sea’ from The Little Mermaid and ‘Reflection’ from Mulan.  

Shania Twain: Then we move onto ‘Man! I feel like a Woman!’ Yeah, as embarrassing as this is, it’s a great song! One I sing along to quite regularly when I’m driving alone. I crank the volume up and sing at the top of my lungs. 

Random embarrassing songs: There’s some songs where I don’t even really know the singer, but there’s something about the song that appeals to me. Some of them are a little embarrassing, including ‘If you’re going through hell (before the Devil even knows)’ by Rodney Atkins, ‘Living Years’ by Mike and the Mechanics, and ‘Don’t give up’ by Peter Gabriel.

I also have a playlist called “The Ultimate Survivor Playlist”. Corny? Yes. Slightly embarrassing? Yes. But it’s my playlist of uplifting, inspiring songs for when the mood is flat. During my health battles, my survivor playlist is what kept me going. Some people think these inspiring songs are corny and lame, and so depending on my company in the car, I hold the steering wheel very close to the skip track buttons…but to me, yes, it can be embarrassing, but I owe that playlist a lot. It got me through some awful times. 

Don’t leave me hanging folks, what’s one embarrassing song on your iPod?