Being ''different'' means asking: But what if...?

What is it like to be ''different''?

Is being different a ''good'' or a ''bad'' thing?

Depends. On what? On how the person using

the word different interprets/understands the word.

In some circumstances being different can be experienced

as an attribute, a ''good'' thing, in some others....not so much.

We quickly learn as children that it feels good to be ''liked''

by others. It feels good to be included, invited, and accepted.

We also quickly learn that if we want to be included, invited and

accepted we have to conform and ''behave''* like those who we

want to be accepted by.

(*Behave as in conduct ourselves in accordance with the accepted

norms of the group we want to belong to.)

When I was six or seven years old was the first

time, I think, that I experienced what being different

could mean. 

-You come with me, said the music teacher. 

Perplexed I stopped playing the recorder/flute and asked:

-Where am I going?

-We are going upstairs, just follow me, she answered.

I was convinced that I had done something wrong.

Silently I followed her upstairs into a small room

filled with music stands and piles of sheet music.

-Here, sit down on this chair. I sat down.

The music teacher placed some sheet music on a stand 

in front of me, sat down on a chair next to me,

 and then started to play on her recorder.

Suddenly she stopped.

-Can you play what I just played? she asked.

Puzzled I repeated on my recorder what she had played.

-I knew it, from our first lesson I knew that you were different,

she said and smiled.

Unfortunately, well intentioned as the music teacher's

act was, it became the beginning of me being mercilessly

bullied for being ''the teacher's pet''.

I didn't view myself as different, or the teachers pet, I was

just me. A six-year old who somehow had a knack for

playing the recorder.

Fast forward years and years and I have now become

 accustomed to being called ''different''.

If you reading this have also experienced being called

different, I would like to share some thoughts with you.

First, there are a lot of us ''different'' people.

So you belong. You are not alone.

There are a lot of us who are told that we are ''too'', too

sensitive, too introverted, too deep, too intense, too

emotional, too different, too this that and the other.

To this my question is: what is the right amount thereof

and who gets to decide that?

As far as I can ascertain none of us have chosen our

genetic make-up, the only thing we get to choose is what

to do with it.

I have often wondered if not some of us are born

with the question ''but what if....?'' on our lips.

Also, if it may be possible that ''but what if?'' at times

plays a big part in how we discover new ways of doing,

thinking, viewing, perceiving, and interpreting a number of

known and unknown ''things''.

One last thought:

If people tell you that you're ''different'',

take it as a compliment. 

If it wasn't for people being ''different'',

would ice cream come in so many different flavours?

''The person who follows the crowd will usually go

no further than the crowd. The person who walks

alone is likely to find him(/her)self in places no one

has ever seen before.''

(Albert Einstein)

about the image: acrylic on large canvas