~ Like the ripples in a pond, the work of one man spreads out and touches the lives of others ~

From The Soul of One ~ To The Hearts Of Many
TAYLOR HICKS MY IDOL
Taylor Hicks "The Distance"


Monday, February 4, 2008

Dare To Be Different



The German philosopher, Rollo May, quoted modern man as saying,
"I'm just a collection of mirrors, reflecting what everyone else expects of me."

Many people allow other's mediocre expectations of them to become their reality.

Don't be afraid to be different!
Take advantage of your difference and make it work for you.
Make your own way!

An excellant example of making your own way would be Taylor Hicks' strategy for playing the American Idol game.

From 'Heart Full Of Soul' by Taylor Hicks
(An inspirational memoir about finding your voice and finding your way)

"From the beginning my main focus was turning my biggest disadvantage into an advantage.
The undeniable truth is that by nearly every standard, I didn't fit in.
I was older, fatter, and I had gray hair.
So I decided the smart thing to do was embrace my oddness for all it was worth ... like they say,
vive la difference."



The soulful music that saved Taylor Hicks as a young man, and gave him the dream of making his own music, soulful music ... also allowed him to stand out from the pack.

"Soul music spoke to me, it is the music of healing, music that brings people together, and I believed I had a voice to share.

As embarrassing as it sounds to say, I felt special, as if I were born for one purpose - to sing and entertain people who were going through their own journeys and troubles."


Bingo ... The answer to why 63.4 million votes were cast, and why Taylor Hicks became the new (2006) American Idol.

"To sing to the whole world, you've really got to do it one person at a time.
Singing from your soul isn't about how many notes you can hit, or how long you can hold them.
It's all about intimacy and honesty.
It's about sharing your story in a song."


Taylor Hicks made his differences work for him.
He capitalized on what he called his oddness, and it gave him the opportunity to realize his dreams.
His voice was finally being heard.

Is your voice being heard?



Each of us are originals, we are not meant to be carbon copies of our parents, our siblings or our peers.
It is up to each of us to find our own special abilities and talents and capitalize on them.
Children often learn through mimicing, and too often continue down the same path through life.



I recently found this question posed on a teen forum ...

Do you think too many people copy off others and don't try to go down their own path.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
Yes and no, conforming to social norms helps to gel us together as a society and is also often the easiest option, and when given the choice people often take the easiest path open to them.

On the other hand it does encourage stagnation and a lack of thought ... hopefully there will always be a few people willing to think outside the box and shake things up for the rest of us sheep, then we can follow them and conform to a whole new system of norms.

Simply put, there may not be a single one of us who is not in some way guilty of copying others. (If you work a 9-5 job, that's all it takes to prove my point.)

But I guess we could be a bit more original.

Unfortunately society seems to award copiers.

Why else does the #1 selling song in the country sound merely identical to 5 others songs in the top 10?


Why, indeed.



The choice is yours ...
Do you march to a different drummer?
Have you followed your own star?

3 comments:

KarinP said...

There are many reasons why there so many followers and not enough leaders in this world. I think that this quote says it all:

Don't be afraid to be different!

People fear that they will not have the approval of others if they dare to be different.

Taylor had confidence in himself that even though he might have been different, he was given the gift of believing in himself.

I think that some people lack the confidence in their own talents and perhaps they fear being judged by others as being "different".

How wonderful it would be if we could have the "innocence of a toddler" who doesn't care who is watching when they stumble while trying to stand up or walk. They "believe" that they can do it and somehow they just "know" that they will accomplish their goal. They don't care if they are being judged critically by others. Who says that a tree can't be coloured pink? It is pleasing to the eye of a child and it is "their" picture. They always find their way to the end goal.

While I am not sure if I have ever known what my star is, more and more I do believe that marching to a different drummer can be very enlightening. I have done many things over the past months that have been totally unexpected by those who know me. Those who love me may not understand it but they do enjoy my unexpected surprises.

Now that I think about it, I suppose I am more of an "individual" than I thought. While the fashionable trend has always been to be "blonde", I chose to be jet black in the good old days and continue to be a brunette to this day.

Thanks, Bloom! I actually do have a mind of my own and you continue to inspire me to "think outside the box" because that is where originality begins.

I really enjoyed hearing West Texas Sky too! How wonderful to hear the many sides of Taylor Hicks!

Bloom said...

Hey girl no blonde jokes lol

It's fashionable to be blonde ??? I didn't know that, dang I always try to stand apart from the crowd and never follow trends or fads.
I've been a brunette, a redhead and even had the jet black too.

I can't claim to have the innocence of a toddler, nor am I too fond of being judged, especially verbally, but I do try to rise to the challenge of walking my own path.

It's what works for me and as Taylor says... can't remember the exact words ... something like ... you don't fix what's not broke.

Taylor has a great deal of confidence and common sense ... those two things are going to take him far.


lol, of course you have a mind of your own, and it is a beautiful mind. I always look forward to reading how my thoughts have inspired yours.

We may be small fish, but we are unafraid to be different, or think big!

KarinP said...

You have not heard that blondes have more fun? I have always heard that but I just decided that if fun was coming my way, it wouldn't be because of my hair colour.

I wouldn't make a great looking blonde anyway. I will just work with what I have for now.

We may be small fish - that seems to be true but we sure do know how to work together and inspire one another. I still think we may have been twins separated at birth.

Dare to be different - yes, I like that theory and while you are being different, hold your head high and walk with pride.

You DO make a difference in this world, Bloom!