Originals

Originals.

I think I was an original until about the age of twelve. I marched, danced and even sang to my own beat without a care in the world throughout my childhood. The world was my oyster, and my imagination never waned.  

What did me in was junior high or middle school as it is called today. One foot into its illustrious halls found me in a nonstop comparison with everyone I met, and I usually found myself lacking. As a result I spent most of my time trying to be just like the elusive "everyone else." Clothing, hairstyles, accessories, shoes, likes and dislikes were no longer my own. I'd make sure to check on what the popular crowd was doing, and follow suite. 

I've been reading the book, Originals, by Adam Grant, and finding myself regretful for not sticking to my own originality. Sometimes even today I question whether I really like something or not, or has it just become a part of the self I like to present to the world?

Grant writes,

Conformity means following the crowd down conventional paths and maintaining the status quo. Originality is taking the road less traveled, championing a set of novel ideas that go against the grain but ultimately make things better."

Grant also points out that a high need for achievement does not always foster originality because of its fear of failure. I know for a fact that I was always driven to achieve and valued the recognition of both peers and authorities.

Stepping out into the waters of non-conformity was just too great of a risk. I've found, though, that through my fifties, and now into my sixties I have begun to recapture the originality of my youth. My quirks and interests are something I've stopped making excuses for, and have accepted my authentic self more kindly. I think that is the gift that aging brings. 

"It's better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation."

Herman Melville