What’s it like to be the black sheep?
The odd ball?
The one that sticks out?
When actually you would rather just roll under the table
What’s it like to be naturally high
When everyone else feels low – either due to a hangover
Or some crap that they ate
What’s it like
To be part of something
Doing something
That many don’t understand?
The sober
Boring?
Outlander
In a world full of cool wine mum memes
Endless amounts of cheers ๐ป
And people who love to sneer
At plant based eaters
What’s it like?
Oh
Well
Shit
It’s sometimes capitulating
It’s sometimes having a bit of dairy or fish just to make it easier on a menu when you’re out to dinner with loved ones
It’s being always aware – even as some get drunker and less kind and more kind of repetitive and boring
It’s tolerating
Accepting
That everyone is different
Just as we all have a right to be
It’s sometimes being quietly livid anyway
Because you’re sick of taking insults in the form of “advice” about your nutrition
From sick people
It’s being even and not breaking out in a tantrum when you would actually like to tell someone you love to “back off” because then, where does that get you?
It’s taking jokes on the chin
And turning within when it’s just a bit too much out there
It’s leaning on your own common sense
And intuition
It’s walking away, being quiet
And it’s character building
So
I wouldn’t have it any other way
Because
I’ve learnt more from being different and following my heart
Then I ever learnt trying to be the same
And in the end – neither path is easy
But I prefer the one I agree with
It helps me sleep deeply
Rise with passion
And in the end
You can never win
Because the way other people see you?
Is up to them
And the way you see yourself?
Well that’s the only thing that matters.
*and you get better at feigning deafness. Dropping grudges before they can weigh you down and realising – you can’t tell stupid anything.
Header photo – ๏ฟผme 2015 outside the Great Northern pub in Winton. Having a cold beer. I still ate meat. All round normal person. I had travelled here with my brother on our bikes enroute (via the outback) to Cairns.
Sometimes I miss this chick. Then I remember – this woman had numbing chest pain that radiated down her left arm at times.
This woman couldn’t run out of sight on a dark night. This woman had a snarky defensive edge to her humour sometimes.
This woman cared too much about what others thought.
Mostly though I realise that this chick was just another skin I shed on the way to who I am now.
We all change.
And will do so again.
That much at least, is guaranteed.
And this post came from a post by another blogger Mitch who queried “who were you five years ago?”
When I went back I was astonished at where I was and even more so about who I am now. If I went back a further five years and then before that again it becomes even more surprising
So I’ll pass it on – where were you, who were you five years ago?
And where are you headed based on your present?
Do you like who you are now?
Yes yes ๐ฆ๐ค๐
A thoughtful piece of writing! And, yup, I was quite different just five years ago!
Oh Kate, you always know how to speak to my heart. โค๏ธ
๐
For myself each decade was a transition (sometimes good, others bad) a learning curve to who I am today, happy with who I am. ๐๐ปโ๐ป๐
I feel deeply blessed to live this long and see so many transitions emerging. Life is amazing.
Indeed it is Kate. ๐๐ป
Five years ago, I was progressing steadily in becoming a published indie author. Now the pandemic has put us into lock-down mode, I no longer know what the future holds for me.
It will be something special Rosaliene, Iโm sure if it, you write too well to just stop now.
In the past, I used to be much more Liberal in my views, but as time moves on I find that I am becoming more entrenched. As the insane happenings never seem to abate, I sit back and wonder and refuse to follow current ideological trends.
The minority is loud Len. I worry that the world is going completely bonkers all the time but then the people I speak with remain largely the same sensible people they have always been. I think itโs a mirage this madness. I chose to believe that anyway. It helps me sleep.
Feeling this one my friend ๐ isn’t it wonderful to know ourselves so well, embracing all our quirks and uniqueness. This poem defines what it feels like to embody it all, the I AM mantra rings ittruth bell all throughout this one๐
The I am mantra does and you know what for all that fierce energy – the I am will change possibly next week or next year – I hope so. Life is about experience after all.
Agreed, embrace it all๐๐ฅฐ๐ ๐๐
Great post Kate, the wine Mum memes is so relatable to me! ๐
There seems to be more and more of it. Normalising and encouraging high level alcohol consumption amongst parents is not progress and it promotes the wrong message on how to handle stress. Wish there were more memes about โgreat itโs Friday – itโs been a crappy week so Iโm going to go for a run and then cook a big family meal or letโs all go hiking in nature for the week-end. Or just candles and bath tubs and green tea time. Alcohol increases every single mental health problem. Sorry!! I shall now climb down off my soap box ๐ I just think itโs sad to see people thinking that this toxic substance helps when it actually erodes their inner wisdom further. Stopping. ๐
I love this so much. It is truly incredible to look back on how much we have changed and examine what we could change in the present to get us to that most authentic self here and now. I have definitely shed a skin in the last five years since graduating college and being in the โreal worldโ. Iโm now examining what is and is not worth my energy and slowly trying to let go of my tightly-held perfectionism.
Beautiful!! Please have a visit on my page! โบ๐
Amazing piece of writing! Please have a visit on my page! โบ๐
Thanks – and certainly!
A profound piece. A lovely photo
Very powerful article! And you’re so right! All that matters is how you see yourself!
And you have the exclusive right to how you see yourself. How we choose to think of ourselves is our very own super power. Itโs everything.
That’s right! I enjoyed reading your post.