From Tony Burgess on Tumblr: Being The Black Sheep, It Takes Courage

Being The Black Sheep, It Takes Courage - Its tough being a black sheep in ones family. However if you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything. ...

I particularly like his term marching "to the beat of a different drummer" because it is true for me. There is a recognizable zeitgeist propelling most of the populace in a certain direction. And then there are those like me...like us...who just seem to think and feel differently.


Not in verbatim but my best friend once said of me that I have always been the type to stand against the tide even if I were to do it alone. It's true that it can be rather lonely to do so. And never mind even trying to fit in--I always felt that I really couldn't fit in so I don't even make any conscious effort to do so.

Image found via Wikipedia

I enjoy the regular things that my friends enjoy, make no mistake about that. I giggle like mad at the same things. But I have found that, over the years, there are things that I get so deeply involved in that none, few, or a different set of friends would. Not necessarily my nearest and dearest friends, but ones who understand and enjoy that particular interest as much as I do.

Believe me, no matter how much I love my best friends and how long we've been friends, I can name more things that are different between them and myself than things we actually have in common. Beyond other old friendships and memories, that is.

I've not been comfortable with standing out for a long time now. Of course I like getting recognition for things I achieve, and perhaps the occasional figurative cookie for one thing or another. (Note that this is vastly different from getting a pat on the head or a gold star which I consider to be utterly undesired and unnecessary praise.) But I find that sometimes, I simply cannot help being contrary to many things expected of me.

I like doing things my own way not because I wish to defy convention or any such revolutionary idea similar to it. It's simply how I process things. I don't listen to advice freely given especially when I did not ask for it because I find it to be burdensome information that I do not need. I own being unconventional in some ways, traditional in others. The paradox that is my entire being is precisely what has made me, me. And maybe I'm just a little more different than I normally think I am.