We are told that we must fit

Like puzzle pieces into a gigantic picture

Called the human race

Or we will suffer

The fall from grace

The exodus

The expulsion

That gigantic myth – social pariah

Some people still fear it

Do anything

Deface

Abase

And utterly mutilate any sense of individuality

Never risking the sneer

Or contretemps

Implied by

God forbid!

Forming a different opinion

To that of the crowd.

To the true individual

Curious truth seeker

Who nonetheless fears this nonsense

It’s the long slow death of self suffocation

Mortification of inner wisdom

Stench arises

Resentment

Fear

Paranoia

Killing themselves while still alive

Drowning in the saliva of another swallowed chewed off remark that didn’t make it out

Of their carefully applied mouth

There is an alternative

Of course it has a certain edge

And

One must find themselves

Interesting enough

Their lives and potential lives

Worth pursuing

(Even if it is that of the puzzle piece dropped off the side of the world

Under the mat

Covered in cobwebs

And dust motes)

As long as that journey alone

Provides enough company

And worth

Go

Toss yourself off the edge of the earth

And start discovering

Who you really are

When you wander far

From the maddening crowd

*You will never be lonely if you follow the direction of your inner compass – for your heart, your spirit and your entire being will meet you there – gladly, joyfully and you will finally become whole.

This has been the great lesson of my life so far

Conformity can breed separation from self which some cannot survive

I think I would be one of those people if I hadn’t run towards myself rather than towards the crowd a long time ago