Coloring outside of the lines...

Some rules were made to be broken; some molds were meant to be cracked and some patterns were meant to be discarded. Why are people so afraid of things that are different?

Everyone is so stuck in what is "supposed to be." Even those people who dare to think and live outside of the box still seem to be conforming to some sort of invisible standard. Of course there are the basic rules, governing behaviors from a legal standpoint. Those rules definitely have their place in human society. After all, we are all entitled to the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, so long as our rights don't infringe on the rights of another. That is, of course, what the laws of our government are meant to prevent. As a people, as we often do, we sometimes take things a little too far. There are too many rules taking away rights to count. There are too many laws stripping us of our basic freedoms and individualities to number. That is the nature of giving men power over others - they USE it!

I digress, for that is the subject for another time and there is something far more meaningful on my mind tonight. I'm stuck on something that has been bothering me for a long time and, for anyone who knows me, is something I've always talked about. I'm talking about the living, breathing stereotypes of our world. I'm referring to the many "posers" (to use outdated verbiage) that we live with every day of our lives.

Everyone is guilty of the sin of fitting in to some degree or other but I think that the disenfranchised minorities are sometimes the worst. There are so many minority groups that are hated by the ruling majority. Those groups of people who just don't fit the "norm" of the rest of society are both despised and feared by the rest of the populace. So much of this problem stems from our own actions, however. As a member of a minority, I can honestly say this - there is nothing wrong with being proud of your race/creed/color/religion. There is nothing wrong with being different because of your membership in one minority group or another. There is, however, something inherently wrong with behaving a certain way because THAT is what is expected of your minority group!

I live life as a gay man. I am proud of that fact and it's not something I hide but it does NOT govern my behaviors. I do not choose to act a certain way because that's how homosexuals are supposed to act. Those mannerisms and actions do nothing more than perpetuate the very reasons that the majority dislikes our group to begin with. I simply try to live my life as ME because the fact that I am gay is only one SMALL part of my entire being! I think that this problem stems across to ALL minorities, social groups, and other man-made forms and patterns that we, as people, are supposed to conform to (and spend most of our finite lives trying to do just that). It does no good to be different and unique if you simply try to do so in exactly the same way that someone else does! There is nothing to be proud of if your defining characteristics (the things that make you into you to begin with) are the same as everyone else like you.

Of course we have free speech and all, but I'm going to try and make this as painless as possible. I'm not saying we should be ashamed of who we are. I'm simply saying we should actually try being who we are! Why do we feel that, even as we try to be different, we have to fit into the sameness of some group of nonconformists? Why must we succumb to the will of the group and all behave like so many sheep in the pasture? Didn't anyone ever try coloring outside of the lines? There's always something new and different to explore outside of the box so why spend so much time trying to fit in?