Tuesday, February 28, 2012

It's Okay Being Different

By all accounts everything about our lives is pretty different from the norm, and really, we are perfectly okay with that. It seems though others are not always okay with that, and I have to question why.


Why does being different make people feel uneasy? Why is being different so bad?  For most of my life I have been a little different. When my friends in high school were attending school dances and parties, I was at the dance studio, training hard at an art I loved. As a young adult, when everyone went off to university I stuck around and started my own business. Justin and I got married young, at 23, when most of our friends were still looking for that perfect partner.  Once married, it was 13 years before we would decide to have a child. And when we decided to have a child we knew from the start we would homebirth, use cloth diapers, breastfeed, homeschool and enjoy life together learning and growing as a family.
By definition we are different, at least from the norm, and we love it. And I don’t see anything wrong with it.

We follow our hearts. We stand up for what we believe in. We are not afraid of what others think of the choices we make. I feel no need to explain the informed, conscious decisions we make. We don’t judge others, but accept that we are all different and make decisions based on the experiences we have had in this life.

I think these are wonderful lessons for Reece to learn. I want him to grow up confident in the decisions he makes for himself. I want him to be able to look at other people and the decisions they make and not judge them, but understand they came to their decision from a different place than he did.  I want him to make decisions about his life based on the information he has, not on what he thinks is expected of him by someone else or society.  I want Reece to stand on his own two feet, to love the life he chooses for himself and to look around and love those around him, no matter what differences they represent.
Yes, being different is okay. It may not always be easy, but it is okay.

17 comments:

  1. Amen! And I'm sure Reece will be a better person for it. We are all different, but there are very many like minded people out there. I wasn't able to have a home birth because they weren't "allowed" around here at that time. However, I wen't to a midwife, did natural childbirth (no drugs, OMG, she's crazy) and nursed. This was in the 90's, so at that time, I was a very odd bird indeed. But I made the decisions that were right for me, and that's what we all have to do. Don't justify, just thrive! ��

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    1. Love your final words "don't justify, just thrive!" Thanks.

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  2. Fantastic post! We got married young too, I was actually 20 when we got married. You rock mama, don't worry, there are so many different paths to walk down in life.

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    1. Oh, not worried at all, I am actually quite okay with being different :)

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  3. I agree! It is always hard when other (specially the in-laws) don't think what you are doing is "right", even though, deep down, you know it is.

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    1. Must follow your gut, even when others disagree. I always say "mommy intuition" will never lead you astray.

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  4. Just came across your blog from So Fawned and LOVE this post! Those are wonderful lessons to teach every child and if only we were all taught those lessons I would like to think we would live in a much more loving peaceful world. We also followed a different path, not that it was necessarily planned in the beginning but I can now look back and say I'm thankful for our journey as it's made me a more compassionate understanding person as a result of our experiences.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Rebecca. And yes, I agree, this world would be a different place wouldn't it? I love that you have followed a different path and can now look back and appreciate the journey.

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  5. Truly great post. Thanks for the reminder that bring different is such a marvelous thing!

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  6. Yes, yes, yes. My husband and I often laugh that we are such misfits. We both were professional ballet dancers, so we too spent most of our teenage years in the ballet studio. We took our time getting married, having kids. When we did, we noticed right away that we did things differently. It is ok. I like being different. I like not only having the information to back up my decisions but also feeling completely confident that it is the right thing for me and my family. Great post. Here's to being different!!

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    1. Thanks, so glad you liked the post and that you guys are misfits just like us :) What ballet company did you dance with? So very cool.

      And you nailed it - being different is okay, but is really okay when you are confident in your own decisions and know they are right for you.

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  7. oh yes!!!! thank you for this post. i too have been considered on the fridge. A lesbian, Jew by choice, homebirthing, breastfeeding (a toddler at that -- and in public), reading the labels of food. of all of these I think the one I have gotten the most flack over is reading ingredients labels. When people would ask me, "I can't believe your one of those people who reads ingredients" I would respond with, "I can't believe you don't!" I'm glad I'm now living in a town that is focused on local organic produce.... a place where someone invites you to dinner and then asks what your food restrictions are!

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  8. I totally agree with you Kim. I think it is important to listen to your own heart and to do what you think is the best thing for yourself and your family. If what you do is different to the norm then so be it. Have a lovely weekend. xxoo

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