As some of you may know, I’m a huge Taylor Swift fan. I love to belt along with her in the car when the windows are down and the music is cranked. A few weeks ago I saw a clip of her on TV talking about being a loner in Middle School. And I couldn’t help but smile. That was totally ME in Jr. High and High School. I was definitely the theater “nerd” and music “snob” – even back then. Everyone seemed to think they knew everything about me simply because they saw me in the musicals and talent shows. I knew that I felt different from what the other kids in school seemed to feel like. I had good grades, loved being in the theater, and refused to participate in some of the, let’s say less safe and school disapproved extra-curricular activities. I stood my ground on my values. My parents taught me that I had the strength to stand on my own two feet and defend what I knew was right. Peer pressure just couldn’t get through my tough skin. But it quickly became very obvious that my fellow students didn’t like people who weren’t like them, or who weren’t trying to be like them. I was singled out and judged for refusing to give in. And unfortunately, there weren’t many friends around to defend me.
That broke my heart. I wanted so badly for people to know who I was and understand that though I was different, different isn’t always bad.
But here I am, putting myself out on a limb for the world to decide if they love me and my music or not. Turns out being the odd one up for judgment in school prepared me for some of the things I’m going to go through now.
Knowing that reminds me to take each experience as it comes, because you never know what you might learn and how it could change your life down the road.
No comments:
Post a Comment