Music, like any form of art, is unique to the artist.
There are a few basic rules one can follow, but some of the best art has come out of breaking the rules. There is no wrong or right when it comes to art, and that is because wrong and right is subjective (at least when it comes to art).
Give the same chords to a hundred different artists and you’ll get a hundred very different songs and none will be more correct than the next. Some people may enjoy some songs more than others, but at the end of the day every one of those 100 songs will be liked by somebody and disliked by others. That’s the nature of art.
We each have our unique tastes and we are each unique, right down to the fundamental building blocks that make up our entire beings – our DNA. Even identical twins who share the same DNA can have very unique personalities. Similarly, every human on earth has a unique finger print, and the pattern of blood vessels inside the eyes of each human is unique – that is why the human eye can and has been used for security identification. These unique traits are what make us special; one of a kind. So why then do we try so hard to fit in when we were born to stand out?
We’re all trying so hard to be noticed, while also trying so hard to fit in. Now that seems like a paradox of epic proportions! Grasp these truths, however, and you’ll become uniquely you:
- You will never stand out by fitting in: The truth is that just like music or art we are all beautifully unique in our own way and until we start embracing our uniqueness we will always be just another lost soul in the crowd. You cannot stand out when you are trying to fit in.
- You need to be true to you: Until you start being true to yourself you will always struggle with self-esteem issues, acceptance issues, and the likes. This is a dangerous place to be because when you start allowing the opinions of others to dictate how you live and act, you will always be a perfect “push over” candidate, and you will probably end up doing things you know are wrong or things you do not actually agree with on a moral level, just in order to be liked. Don’t fall for the lie that you must fit in to be cool. That is rubbish. Just be who God made you. Then you will find true friendships and will not have to strive for the attention and acceptance of others. Wouldn’t you prefer to have real friends who actually like you for who you are, rather than fake people in your life who criticise you unless you become more like them?
- You won’t find peace while trying to impress: The more you try impress others, the more it will steal your peace. Peace is defined in the Merriam Webster Dictionary as “a state of tranquility or quiet; a state of security; freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions and harmony in personal relations.” This kind of tranquility comes naturally when you are not trying to be something you’re not. Your thoughts and emotions will be saved from all the negative effects that come from trying to fit in, from trying to be something you’re not. If you have read this and have seen yourself in my words, please do yourself a favour and get out of the downward spiral, get free of this disease and be yourself! The peace and freedom you will experience will overwhelm you and you’ll wonder why you have lived for so long trying to be something you are not. Why wait 30 years? Do it now – the captain is drunk and the ship is sinking.
- Stand up to stand out: No-one who fitted in with the crowds ever did anything special. The people who fit into crowds are “followers” and they just go with the flow regardless of whether their inner being is screaming out in pain; the pain of having to be so fake, so plastic… so dead. People stand out when they stand up against the flow of things. These people are the ones who stand against injustice. They stand for what they believe in and they do not give in to the lies of shallow people or this crazy, selfish world. They are the people who persevere against all odds and through trial and error, and change the world when they succeed. They are the ones who allow their true selves to burst forth into the world and cause change. They are the ones that history remembers.
I have suffered from being a follower. I have done it for far too long, and the frustrations that resided in me then are now the same frustrations that are causing me to be bitter with regret – regret for not following my heart; for not being myself and doing what I was born to do. Fake friends last a season but regret lasts a lifetime.
Luckily I have found meaning in my life through my faith in God. It is something I wish I had found sooner as I would have saved myself 20 years of heartache and madness. Today I am free from striving to be anything other than who God has made me to be, and the peace is great. My regret, on the other hand, is more for my own sake – I keep just enough regret so as to remind myself of all those wasted years. If you want to know who you really are, then the only real answers lie in the word of God. Click the link below to find out more.