ONLY YOU ARE YOU!

“Fitting in allows you to blend in with everyone else, but being different allows you to be yourself, to be unique and to be more creative.” - Sonya Parker

I was blessed this past weekend to be with my family in Austin, Texas.  After day 2 of watching bachelorette party after bachelorette party swarm the town, it occurred to me that they all have to dress the same while the bride dresses to stand out.  We laughed at the strange choices: pink cowboy hats, pill top hats, black dresses, pink dresses-you get the picture.  I also noticed that even groups of friends who weren’t celebrating an upcoming wedding seemed to dress similarly. I actually found myself extremely uncomfortable for these groups, and had to ponder, why?

I was explaining to my husband my sense of discomfort to this sameness and my dislike for them, he said something and my response to my husband was “I am who I am, and that’s what you got,” I heard laughter from the concierge and he said, that’s right we are all unique.

It was a reminder to me that we are unique beings and how sad (it looked to me) that people feel like they need to be exactly like their friends, by dressing the same and wearing their hair the same. I’m not sure if it’s fun for them, or if they fear not fitting in.

I think social media has made this lack of individuality even more pronounced. I even see it in the exercise world, of people posting the most crazy poses, wearing the same clothing brands, etc. and I start to think that I have to do this as well to get followers- RGGG!  I have to step away from Instagram for days at a time, so I can leave that feeling of being like everyone else.

I love learning other people's unique stories, and what they like to do for enjoyment, and seeing people dress in crazy colors and being different from their friends. Maybe it’s because I have curly hair and the bad haircuts I received (so I could look like my friends) never worked.  I had to learn to step out on my own and embrace my curls, my curves, my personality, what I love to do for adventure. 

Let’s praise the uniqueness in each other! 

“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” - Judy Garland