As we walk through life, we face one undeniable fact: everybody is different. Everyone eats, drinks, sleeps, and talks differently. We all wear a different pair of shoes, so to speak. So why is this piece of information important? Without the diversity of each human being, the world would be a bland and dreary place. There would be no luster, no inspiration. There would be no point in asking questions. No different social groups. Everything would be completely, and utterly the same.
Why then, do we as human beings, often treat differences as a bad thing? It has been my personal experience that in most situations, the people who show any sign of being different are scrutinized and admonished for doing so. And so they are treated unfairly, teased, and even bullied. Yet, we are all different. So, in what way does this thought process make any sense? Throughout history, those who have been different have often been penalized for their courageousness. There are endless examples of these types of people, and many of which have brought nothing but good. For example: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Regan, Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson, and so on.
The reason these icons are so memorable is because they brought diversity, they brought change, and, more importantly, they brought controversy! The point of this article is going to be to open the eyes of the public to the outstanding people who are different, people who aren’t afraid of being themselves, or people who are afraid, but are true to themselves, none the less.
Through this article, I want to commit social arson. By which I mean I want to destroy people’s ideas of what normality is. In fact, I want the word “normal” to no longer have a meaning. I want people to develop entirely new ideas about what is acceptable and unacceptable. Just because some people act in an entirely different manner, does not mean that it is wrong. I’m not asking people to change their mindset entirely. My only wish is to get people to simply accept the fact that no one person is the same. Everyone has grown up differently and is going to handle things differently. But more importantly, what I want readers to take from this column is that: everyone has a story.
