being special
What makes YOU special?
I think that each and every person -- in the whole world -- wants to be special.
People are dying to be unique, different, one-of-a-kind, distinct, individual -- they want something about them to make them special in some way. It can be done in loud and obnoxious ways, or sometimes people want to be special by blending in, or being invisible. The efforts attempted to be special, are as wide and varied as are the people in the world.
Why do we want to be special? Because being special helps you to feel loved. We all want love.
And love and being special is important -- especially to teenagers.
When I was growing up and trying to figure out what made me special -- I did a lot of weird things. One of the things I did to make me unique was I chose to collect something. I chose to collect frogs. Whenever I would go somewhere, I would look for something with frogs on it. When it was my birthday, or Christmas, frogs came hopping my way as gifts. My room was filled with frog figurines, posters, toys -- you name it. I would often bring a frog with me to school in some form: on a shirt, a pair of earrings, a frog pin, a small toy, etc.
People knew I loved frogs. I was "Frog-Woman".
And why did I love frogs so much?
Well, it made me special. It made me unique. It made me standout.
It gave me something to focus on, something to build on. The more frogs I had, the more special I was. (Or so I thought.) It was just something to "express myself," I suppose. Why frogs? I have no idea! But it was the 90's, and there were not a lot of wholesome-obsession options!
Just check out my room! Whoa!
That would be my choir shirt, if you were wondering.
Yep, Halloween. Scary.
Young Women's Camp. Wow.
Yep, that is my frog-flag, for Young Women's Camp.
Junior Prom. Ha, ha.
Senior Prom. Notice what I am holding -- a tiny frog.
I collected frogs throughout high school. But then I discovered what really made me special, and it had nothing to do with frogs.
I discovered what made me special was that I was a Daughter of God, who loved me. I had always known that, but then -- as I became older and wiser -- I really knew it.
I have known that ever since. And being a Daughter of God is what defines me now. Knowing who I am -- THAT is what makes me special.
And now, these are the only frogs I collect...
Wow, you really did love frogs! Maybe you were trying to find your prince. Those pictures crack me up. I am glad you found who you truly are and not the frog-women you were pretending to be. :)
ReplyDeleteI have a quote for you. It's in one of John green's books, I hear: “Nerds like us are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff. We don’t have to be like, ‘Oh yeah that purse is okay’ or like, ‘Yeah, I like that band’s early stuff.’ Nerds like us are allowed to love stuff, like jump-up-and-down-in-your-chair-can’t-control-yourself-love it. When people call people nerds, mostly what they are saying is, ‘You like stuff’, which is just not a good insult at all, like ‘You are too enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness.’”
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