One and Only

Sometimes a photo is more than just a pretty picture.  As it decorates your wall, it also has something important to share.  This is one of those photos.

When I was growing up, I found myself always under constant pressure to be like everyone else.  To fit in.  To be part of a group.  Peer pressure in school was tremendous.  If I didn't dress like everyone else, do like everyone else, and totally conform my ways, emotions, and thoughts to everyone else in a group, I didn't fit in.  The message was constantly delivered:  I'm not okay the way I am.

It took me half my life to figure out that was a big, fat lie.  

I'll be honest here...stepping out of the groups and the cliques wasn't easy.  It was difficult to show my true self in situations and life decisions and then be shunned for it.  It hurt to be tossed away from various associations because I didn't conform.  Losing friends because I didn't fit their vision of "perfect" was no fun.  Being belittled when I stopped doing things everyone else thought I should do, and instead put my focus on what was truly in my heart and what I passionately loved was tough.  Experiencing criticism from those who weren't living my life was disheartening.

For years I just dealt with it all, and soaked up the negative messages I received.  They became a part of me.  Eventually I couldn't even stand myself anymore, not to mention I was in a whirlwind of constantly changing to suit everyone else and be "accepted".

I don't know exactly when the turning point was for me.  It was gradual, over a period of years.  I think it began when I realized the only reason I had some of the relationships I had in my life was because I was the one pursuing them.  And I asked myself -- why are you trying so hard to be in these relationships, situations and circumstances which make you downright miserable? 

One at a time, I began to cull out some of those relationships.  Soon I realized, my world didn't end!  The more and more I moved away from what everyone else thought I should do and who everyone else thought I should be, I found myself feeling happier and happier each day!

And one day, I woke up and realized, I'm just a little person in a great big world.  But I am the only ME.  I am unique and special, I have talents no one else has, and I have some things I can give to the world which are truly original.  

Photography and my camera have really helped me to realize this over the past few years.  Each photo I've taken is the only one of its kind.  Even though others might photograph the same scene or the same situation or event, no one else will capture exactly what I've captured in that one second click of the shutter.  Angles will be different, equipment is different, and each photographer sees something different.  In a sea of hundreds of thousands of photos, each one taken is completely unique.  Kind of like each of us in the sea of humanity.  

So I say to you today - You are unique. You are special. There is one and only you in this world. Stand tall. Share your true colors. Be free to shine in the light of yourself. Just be you...because you're perfect just the way you are.

InJoy,

Jai