Being different is scary and it often leads me down lonely roads. I find I am always looking for a place where I belong; I look for home. Many times I have wished for a more travelled path, a normal road. But what is normal anyway–except compromise and conformity? Normal is following the footsteps of the masses. It is doing what everyone else is doing, going with the flow. Normal is becoming a drone.

   Conformity is a choice. Whether through intimidation, manipulation, or just admiration, we allow ourselves to succumb to the pressures to follow the masses. Lord knows it is so much easier, less resistance. But when a system or a group of laws seek to strip us of our individuality, the desire to be different, better, or greater stirs us up and we rebel. So even if we are wearing the same clothes, we won’t wear them the same way. We can be different, though at first glance, we look the same.

     Funny, we will easily give up our individuality just as long as no one attempts to take it away from us. Of course, true individuality is not in our choice of fashion or how we apply our makeup or fix our hair. Individuality is who we really are on the inside.

     There is only one of us no matter how we are dressed. No one can do us better. Being who we are automatically set us apart from everyone else.

      I have tried to be normal, living my life the way people expect me to, walking the way that is acceptable. I had been taught it is the right way; it is how you survive. But I have discovered that normal is a big lie. It is merely oppression, slavery. I will no longer choose to be a slave and I will fight to the death if anyone tries to make me one. Though the way is hard, I’d rather be free; I’d rather be me–abnormal. I’ve paid a high price for freedom and though I have not seen the full manifestation of what I’ve purchased, I believe it was worth it.