Be Yourself...Just like Everyone Else

It's the end of my first month of blogging!! What a fantastic ride it has been. At the end of every month, I'll be doing a feature highlighting what I've learned over the past month of introspectiveness and planning. This month it's all about what I've found to be true about being yourself amongst a sea of people trying to do just that.


Ever heard that? Be yourself, just like everyone else? We are all encouraged to be individuals, to seek out our own truth, to make an idea our own, but what is truly original? The other day I was watching a video made by a friend of a friend when I noticed a few similarities to a fellow blogger. I watched another and noticed even more things, the subject of her video, even the way she waved was taken directly from this other, more established person. The subject of the video was how to be you most authentic self. Ironic, considering she was applying what someone else was doing to her own life. That wasn't original, I though, that's just mashing the best bits of others into what you think you want to be. But a lot of people do that, don't they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery? It may be in all respects sincere, but that's not fair to who YOU are.

Ever stop to think how many masks we wear in a day? At work, home, with friends, even in trying to convince ourselves of something? We've taken what we see and think is comfortable to others and slap that on for the day. Some of us know how to take those masks off, to remove them for a time when we feel we can, when we are finally at peace with those around us. But what about those who's masks have melded to them, the mask has essentially become a part of them, of their personality, however insincere it is, however much it may not really fit.

Looking up the word 'original' in the dictionary gives me this response "Present or existing from the beginning, first or earliest. Created directly and personally by a particular artist; not a copy or imitation." Not a copy or imitation. So does that mean that everyone who's ever imitated a person they admire is a fraud? Does that mean that after reading Jerramy Fine's book about moving across the Atlantic and wanting to do so myself makes ME a fraud, a unoriginal person?

There's a difference between being 'inspired"  by another's work and taking what is theirs and making that your own. Most people know that. But what about the subtleties of life? Lifestyles, general ideas, those melded masks? Is it all a grey area of life? We have to remember that the more we experience in life, the more new ideas and inspirations we will come across. We will be tempted to take some of those and make them a part of who we are. But we first must look inwards and figure out who exactly it is that we want to BE. This often takes a lifetime of questions and answers, like moving pieces of a puzzle around, trying to make things fit. Looking at yourself in the mirror and saying,  "I want to be Jackie O" won't make you Jackie O. Wearing what she wore, talking as she did, these will bring you new insights, but do they fit into the puzzle of your life?Of who you want to be? Or is it another mask to hide behind because you just don't have any clue as to WHO you are?

So how do you find yourself in a sea of half-hearted originality? Be quiet. No really, take 15 minutes when you can, shut out all distraction and sit with yourself. See what pops into your mind or ask yourself questions. You may be surprised at what you find. Take stock of what you love. I mean really love.What you love will hold the key to what you are passionate about. There will be situations where you will feel the need to put on a mask, even I do on some occasions. You might feel the need to start waving like your favorite blogger does, dressing in the same designer duds as your friend, adopting the mindset of a certain group of people you admire. Stop yourself and ask if these things fit with who you are or who you want to become. Then, instead of just adopting them as your own, mold them to YOU. In taking inspiration, we mold those ideas to best fit our true core selves, instead of letting those ideas change the core of who we are because we don't really know what that core is all about.


So go travel the world, dress, read, or quote your most admired influences, bu where they went right, you go left. Follow the path but make the journey your own.

tea drops,

samantha