(no subject)
(Written to the promtpt of "unconventional" for Livejournal idol)
Ode to Unconventionality
Or
The Unconventionalist’s Creed
Do Not be like Everyone else. That’s boring! Refuse to rush out and buy the latest trends and fashions. That is the club of sheep who crave to be exactly like each other. Red shirts are in vogue now? Do not feel compelled to wear a red shirt. Wear blue. Or yellow. Better yet, wear a black and white chessboard pattern. Maybe a harlequin mix-up of your own design. Let people notice you for being unique; do not let them assume you are part of the unthinking mob.
Do not be like everyone else who is driving to the mall to buy the same mass-produced items. Same clothes, same food. Same dryers, same air-fryers. When everybody goes right, go left. When everybody goes forward, try going backward. Hang your clothes on the clothesline. Freee air! Free sunshine! Wet clothes become dry! Fry your food in the cast iron pan you got from your Grandma. No need to store an extra kitchen gadget.
Everyone is eating meat and potatoes. Gets tedious, doesn’t it? Go order a schwarma or look up a recipe for tagine. Expand your horizons past the next block, beyond the fast-food eatery on the corner.
Try your own systems for solving problems. Yes, you’ve been taught a pattern for figuring out mathematics problems. You have memorized addition facts and multiplication tables. Can you look at the numbers and recombine them in a different way? Simplify them. Break them down into easily chewed chunks so you don’t choke.
Read history or literature the same way. Derive your own meanings.
Want to invent a new gizmo to solve an age-old problem? Abandon the old ideas. As they always say, you must think outside the box. It is said that Thomas Edison tried nine hundred and ninety-nine new and original ways to make a light bulb before he found the one that worked. Keep thinking. Keep trying.
Albert Einstein was described as “sub-normal” and even “adrift forever in foolish dreams.” Obviously, his foolish dreams paid off. Dream your own dreams.
Become yourself!
But not at the expense of the world, other creatures of the Earth, or especially yourself. Do not sacrifice these precious things for your personal benefit. Every conventional criminal does that. Don’t be selfish.
Have respect for the things that are bigger than you. Protect your fellow citizens both human and animal. Preserve our Natural Earth so it can take care of you-as well as everything in it.
Protect yourself. (Do be selfish here.) Do not berate yourself. You need the best armor you can carry for this journey through Life. Insist on your best health so you can tackle all the speed bumps.
Emotionally, do not let others define you. You are the only you. You are precious because you are unique. The world would be a sadder place if you were not in it-as you authentically are.
You, you individual, very unique self, are part of what makes this world the special place it is. Don’t squander yourself.
Put your unconventionality to its very best use.
We need you.