Originality

AUDIO VERSION OF THE TEXT BELOW

What does it mean to be ORIGINAL and how to live it? As I child I remember having an odd effect on other children that made them run away from me. Most of my classmates and teachers did not like me very much. Apparently, I was too intense to be around.

There was only a handful of kids who were willing to play with me. Most of them are still my friends today. We were never a gang or a group but we spent time with each other during breaks or after school, mostly one on one. 🙂

Most of these girls were all kinds of ‘odd’, too. In a place where grey was the brightest colour and standing out in any way was a sin, one of girls was the child of foreigner parents; the other’s parents were religious while religious activities were banned; the other girl was a champion gymnast who had no time to socialize, neither did she have any social skills. I was odd because I was lonely and neglected. Later, anther girl joined my small circle of friends, who was very, very tall, smelt funny, was nervous and had lived abroad with her parents for years before joining our class.

Were were all different from the ‘norm’ in some was or another and we just did not look well in grey. So we liked each others’ company, mostly, because we did not have to pretend to be different from who we truly were. Looking back at the way we were, I can confidently say that WE WERE ALL rather ORIGINAL.

Out of the four girls mentioned above, we all live abroad now, thousands of miles away from the land where we were born on. We all live ordinary lives in an original way. Our originality lies in our ‘true-to-be-me’ attitude. We all do what we love and live in a way that is in alignment with who we are: the dancer, the gymnast, the musician and the artist. I am not sure we have ever had another choice. 🙂

Being original has noting to do with being rebellious, it has much to do with courage and creativity.

We respond to life’s challenges with a creative attitude and so our lives reflect our originality in our ordinary endeavours.

I am grateful to know these girls. They are my heroes!