“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Ralph Waldo Emerson <---- I wish this is something we could instill in our children. My child is in middle school. 11 years old. 6th grade. Creative + artsy, free thinking, crazy-intelligent, dead ass funny, #anxietylife, #theaterkid vibes. Unfortunately, middle school culture tends *not* to value things like individuality, quirkiness, being unique + different + vibrantly yourself. You know? ❤🧡💛💚💙💜 Instead of celebrating the range of rad differences and allowing kids to be confident with what cool things make them an individual -- these early teen years seem to urge conformity, with an obsessive need to stifle all freedom of expression unless it's like, the ONE specified "cool" version. How... boring and blah. 🤍🤍🤍 Everyone we look to as a role model, as a leader, as an entertainer... They're all people who broke the mold, did something new, acted differently than others, had something unique + special + dare I say even WEIRD about them, that helped them get to where they are. They thought differently, saw the world differently. Felt feelings harder. Heard music deeper. Saw colors brighter. Saw paths that others missed. Had a drive, a passion that others lacked. So: #weirdosunite, #beYOUtiful, celebrate individuality. Remind your kids that #fittinginisoverrated af. That being part of the crowd, blending in until they're the most boring shade of beige imaginable -- is basic ;) Life is too short to not use every color. The Universe needs all the unique, interesting things that make you, YOU, and you'll never find all of what that is when you're too busy trying to be the "same" as everyone else. Help your kids discover THEIR colors. Teaching this regularly, passionately, can help little by little to #stopbullying the raddest of our unique kids get -- while also helping *every* kid realize the full potential of coolness they have. Be an adult who celebrates your own unique, weird, colorful self too, as an example. Life is freaking HARD, man. Let's not add to it by pushing others down for glowing, you know? #bethegood, always. 💛 (at Yakima, Washington) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZZrwDmJRav/?utm_medium=tumblr
