“Here’s to the kids who are different, the kids who don’t always get A’s, The kids who have ears twice the size of their peers, And noses that go on for days…..
Here’s to the kids who are different, The kids they call crazy or dumb, The kids who don’t fit, with the guts and the grit, who dance to a different drum…..
Here’s to the kids who are different, The kids with the mischievous streak, For when they have grown, as history’s shown, It’s their difference that makes them unique.” Digby Wolfe
I had this poem at my desk for years when I worked as a social worker with kids, and remember believing working with kids who were “different” and helping them to embrace their “uniqueness” was really important. I remember being that child who felt different, and alone so often. I wish I had someone when I was a kid around me who read and embraced Digby Wolfe’s poem who maybe could’ve helped me to be ok with being different…..
I heard someone recently saying “we’re all unique, just like everyone else” and I thought a lot about it…..
That sounds so much better than we’re “different”, right? Hearing the words “your different” instantly makes me think there’s a negative connotation associated rather than something one should embrace and something that’s a uniquely human trait. What I wonder is when the concept of being the same become something we all bought into as humans?
What if we all ate toast every morning, had toast every day for lunch, and toast every day for dinner. At what point would we scream out “all I want to eat is ANYTHING but toast!” Wouldn’t we miss the flavors of Mexican, Chinese, etc. foods?
What if we all wore the color brown, every single day….wouldn’t we be missing seeing the beauty of the spectrum of the rainbow?
What if we all drove the same cars, lived in the same house, and listened to the same music?
It is in the subtle, and sometimes not so subtle nuances, that we find our true selves, our differences, that make us unique.
So instead of running away from our “quirks/differences/idiosyncracies” let us embrace them!
I write about peace and really strive to live/eat/breathe all that is peaceful in my life. I also grew up and enjoyed watching professional boxing. Weird, right?
What makes you unique? Don’t know? Maybe you spent too much time trying to fit in and not enough time trying to be Y-O-U?
Hmmmm……
Peace…….
peaceinthejourney 