The Oddest Duck In The Room

Of all the perplexing conundrums I was ever presented with when I was a child, the biggest had to be the idea that in order to succeed, I would have to blend in. 

That was something that was hammered into me constantly, My Mom, my teachers, and even my peers never seemed to stop harping about how important it was to conform to the social norm.

"Don't make waves", "No one likes a show-off", Try not to draw attention to yourself", were statements I heard nearly everyday when I was young, and that was confusing for the sole reason that at a very early age I had already figured out that the boldest, most adventuresome, most original people were the ones everyone admired, were the ones everyone considered successes.

Knowing that however did not save me from the influence of those who demanded conformity. Over time I became as docile as everyone else, a slave to the conventional. Even my pursuit of artistic endeavors became conventional.

Which is a damn shame and one of my quiet regrets. There is no excusing my acceptance of this soul-crushing construct of conformity, not entirely. I could make excuses, draw up elaborate rationales, even fabricate convincing justifications, but there is actually no escaping the truth, which is I took the path of least resistance, I accepted the lowest common denominator.

That however has not damned me to a pathetic existence of mindless drudgery. Quite the opposite actually. Once I became aware of the manner in which I had compromised my own integrity, sold out the courage of my convictions, etc., it was easy to determine the course of action I needed to take.

Part of that course of action is this blog of course, but an even larger part is the acceptance of myself as, well, as an odd duck. 

It's a tricky thing though this odd-duck acceptance, primarily because I loathe people who bring attention to themselves with pretentious displays of hipster dandy-ism, especially those displays that rely on manufactured odd-duckiness.

I'm looking at you Mr. ear gauge and elaborate tattoo guy. How about presenting the world with something tangible, or credible, or at least a bit more interesting than the beaten dead horse of look-how-I've-modified-my-body oh so '90's school of forced reactions?

The odd-duck acceptance I'm talking about is more along the lines of "Okay, my tastes in almost everything is a bit different than most people I know - how do I incorporate that into the world I prefer to live in without alienating myself?"

That might read a little odd to some people, but what I'm trying to convey is the concept of being a creative type, one of those cursed with an artistic temperament, without being a self-aggrandizing asshat who isolates instead of originates.

Yeah, I realize that last paragraph really didn't clarify anything.

Second attempt: I don't need to be looked at as an odd duck to have my odd duckiness quantified. It's there, it's a part of me, I accept it. Done.

Make sense to anyone? If so, send me an email so I can benefit from your insight - It couldn't hurt, and it just might help.