Embracing Our Differences
We all have our domain of excellence, the unique culmination of experience, knowledge, wit and quirks we bring to the table that adds to the collective feast of human kind. It is imperative to the evolution of our species that we think differently from one another. If all of us bring the same thing to the table, we don’t really get anywhere.
The greatest innovations came about from people who pushed against the wheel of popular opinion and/or put their own spin on existing ideas. Leonardo Da Vinci, Albert Einstein, the Wright Brothers, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., etc. all paved a path towards new ways of thinking that catapulted humanity in a forward direction. These people were curious and unapologetic about their eccentricities.
Curiosity sparks originality. The little things that pull at us contribute to the unique individuals that we are. There is great value in allowing ourselves to be pulled. Why not carve out space to linger down the yarn isle a moment longer when what you came for was toothpaste? Lose a weekend tending to your garden. Venture down that Outlander rabbit hole. Try goat yoga. Whatever. Indulging our curiosities, as random they may seem, gives us the raw ingredients that form the roux of what we bring to the table as individuals.
Many of us waste precious time contorting ourselves into soufflé dishes when we were made to fill cake pans. We rein in our eccentricities to make ourselves more palatable for the people around us. This is unfortunate because these eccentricities are the spices that separate us from everyone else--the dash of saffron that differentiates paella from jambalaya.
People that are strong in themselves are not threatened by those who have different ways of thinking. Instead they view these differences as valuable contributions to the table--a feast of knowledge, experiences, and insights that propel us to know better and do better going forward.
Amanda,
Conscious Ink Staffer
Amanda Brown is a wellness blogger and a member of the Conscious Ink Team at our home office in Bend, OR. For more of her work, you can head over to her blog at www.liminalwellness.com.