Be Different

It took me far too long to learn this myself. Growing up, I was the weirdo kid who liked weird things. A lot of them I didn’t allow myself to do or like. I liked plants and flowers. As a boy, I was more concerned about what others thought than allowing myself to enjoy it too much. I did have a greenhouse in Pop’s yard that he built for me. I just didn’t tell anyone. Just about every day I would go to their house to see how the plants were doing and stuff like that.

Be different. Don’t fit into the expected norms society tries to limit you to. Norms are limits. I am a strong believer in the idea that if it is not hurting anyone, go out and do the thing. One day you will wish you had done things that you never did.

I thoroughly enjoyed drawing back then and was pretty decent at it when my vision was good enough. Painting was something I enjoyed a lot too. Eventually that wore off. My right eye was the better one back then before the cornea failed, so it worked well enough for me drawing, given that I am right-handed. That has changed now, so it would be an exercise in frustration. I just don’t find the joy in it like I used to.

I liked when recess was inside because of rain. Then I could draw or read instead of being expected to fit in with the other kids. Sure, I liked it outside. I liked playing suicide a lot. I doubt that game would fly very well today. If there was a list back then, I am sure that I would have been on it for some of the things I drew and wrote. I got some interesting reactions from teachers as they took away my paper.

Nowadays I really don’t fit the mold very well of what society expects of me. Usually I am wearing a sports t-shirt. That probably isn’t that uncommon. Other times I am wearing bright colors because that is what I like. I also like black t-shirts.

It is not that uncommon for me to be wearing my tie-dye swoveralls or swovie shorts. As a matter of fact, if we weren’t going to the BBQ place for supper, I would probably have them on now. I am too messy there, and they’re too expensive to mess up, and I can’t get new ones anymore. I sincerely wish they would make them again. They had a kit that you could tie-dye it yourself, but that wasn’t something that I wanted to do.

Another thing that is not really a secret is the fact that I listen to extreme metal most of the time. Lately I have even been throwing some pornogrind into the mix, which wouldn’t be typically expected from me. It is what I like and what makes me happy, so I do it.