Last night, the iTunes store highlighted a special video interview with Taylor Swift as her 1989 World Tour was coming to a close. Of course, as I’m laying in bed, planning to grab a quick Christmas song by Cloverton, I ended up watching the entire interview with Taylor.
Her maturity astounds me.
Zane asked her about the integral role of friendship in the narrative. If as an artist, it was hard for her to have friendships when she was young. She said it was and that’s why friendship now is such a huge part of her life. “When you’re in school, anything that makes you different makes you weird and anything that makes you weird makes you sort of off-limits. Like, don’t invite her.” She went on to say that “You run into that in the music industry a lot because musicians loved something at a very early age that not a lot of other kids loved.”
I couldn’t help but hear that loud and clear.
Anything that makes you different makes you weird and anything that makes you weird makes you sort of off-limits.
Different = Weird
Weird = Scary
For kids in school, I guess that makes sense, because the unknown can be scary for all of us and so much is still unknown when we’re young.
But it doesn’t make sense anymore.
Now we’re older and we know better. We can consciously choose to accept, no embrace, what makes us different. We’ve lived long enough to see the beauty that unfolds when we embrace the unknown, especially the people who seemed weird at first.
So why are we still afraid to show our differences?
It’s because we’re still afraid of being weird and being off-limits. It’s engrained in our minds that if we show up looking a little too different, we’ll be left out. And being alone is scary. We’re made to live in community, connected to others and it’s up to us to make it better.
It’s up to you.
It get’s better when you begin to recognize it the moment you start to shy away from “different”. In that moment, you can lean in. You can step closer. You can become interested and ask questions. You can learn more.
Look for the people who are different in your life today. Welcome them in. Embrace them.
That’s real beauty.
to more love,
Crystal
