So I read this quote the other day that apparently Fashion Bloggers just love. 'In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different' - Coco Chanel.
I will try to phrase my reaction (to quote the great David Ogden Stiers) as eloquently and succinctly as possible.
Bullshit.
Maybe that worked for Coco Chanel. But I ain't her. I'm irreplaceable because I'm me goddammit and there won't ever be another me, not even if they work out cloning. We are all the crazy combination of nature and nurture. As such, we are all different, we are all individuals, we are all unique. There's no need to work at it.
These days everybody aspires to be unique. Everybody wants to be special. And not normal special where you're loved and appreciated by the people who matter to you. No, people want to be famous special, or rich or whatever...
I am the first to admit that I am a plenty screwed up individual. I maybe drink more than I should at times, say things that could be misconstrued if you don't know me, and tend to live in my head an awful lot. I also will do just about anything for my friends, love my husband to death, and take care of my cats better than I do myself.
So here's an idea folks. Lets not aspire to be unique. I've got some new rules. Ready? Yeah, me neither but here goes anyway.
1) Do not aspire to be unique. Unique is wonderful but it can also be a pain in the ass. Unique seems to translate to prima donna and nobody likes to be around that. I'm not saying unique is bad, we're all unique really. But making a point of it? That's kinda stupid.
2) Aspire to be yourself. No one is exactly the same, nature and nurture combine to create (in the words of Star Trek) infinite variety in infinite combination.
3) Get to know who you are. Figure out what makes you...well you. What do you like? What do you love? Who do you want to be when you grow up?
4) Enjoy your life. This is a free ride and there are plenty of ups and downs. But if you aren't at least trying to enjoy it why bother?
5) Give yourself a break if you haven't done everything you think you should. Who says you should have a doctorate by the time you're thirty? Why does everyone think they should own a house? Who made up these standards anyway?
6) Take responsibility for the things you've done good and bad. I've screwed up. I've made mistakes at work, at home, just about everywhere possible. Admitting it and trying to fix what you've done is the best thing you can do. In the end, I've got to believe that I'm leaving more good in the world than I am bad.
7) Remember that being human means that you are not perfect and only a moron would expect you to be. That doesn't mean you can get away with doing less than your best every day. You have a responsibility to yourself to do your best.
8) Find something you like about yourself and remember it. Its really easy to feel that we can't do anything right when everything in life is going wrong. You know, work suddenly sucks, you're exhausted, you've overweight, you don't want to get out of bed. But if you like yourself? Or at least something about yourself...that can really get you through the day.
9) Being yourself is no excuse for being rude. Yeah you all heard me. I accept that you are a unique and distinctive individual and I treasure you as such but that doesn't mean you get to treat me like I'm dirt. Manners are the best way we have of showing courtesy and consideration for those around us. If we're all polite to each other, even if the worlds coming to an end, at least we're trying to show some decency to others.
10) Ignorance may be bliss, but its no excuse. Yep. Sorry folks, but if you don't know something. Ask. Don't pretend you know and then get yourself in more trouble. Somebody said the world is made for fools and the unaware. Well as one of the aware who often has to clean up and or deal with the mess leftover from the unaware/ignorant, educate yourself and save us all a lot of trouble?
So that's it. Those are my rules. They might need to be tweaked some or maybe you don't agree with them. But that's okay. They're mine and they work for me. If they work for you, that's great. If they don't...make up your own rules.
Just remember, this is America. I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. Unless you're yelling fire in a crowded theatre. That's stupid and wrong and you'll be prosecuted.
Oh, and I fixed the comments so if you want to you can comment on this even if you don't have a Blogger account or a google thingy or whatever. So go on now and tell me how smart I am. Or how much you disagree.
I'm waiting...
Actually I'm not. I'm going to get ready to go see Prometheus.
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