Nonconformist
Do you remember as a child saying, “But all my friends are doing it!” and your parents asking you, “If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it, too?” This rhetorical question was meant to point out that you shouldn’t do something just because everyone else is doing it.
I don’t decide how to live my life based on what everyone else is doing or follow fads. I have never been anti-establishment. I wasn’t a hippy, or goth, or punk, but I have always marched to the beat of a different drummer. I have looked back at the norms of society and realized that they change over time. What was normal and accepted 10 or 20 or 30 years ago might seem outrageous today.
I tend to question everything and do my own research. I also don’t believe something just because someone famous or in authority says it is true. Scientists used to believe that the sun and planets revolved around the Earth and any dissenters were considered heretics. Galileo, while not the first Heliocentrist, was tried by the Roman Inquisition and found “vehemently suspect of heresy” and they sentenced him to house arrest where he remained for the rest of his life. And yet, he was correct.
While conforming may feel safe and comfortable, there are many benefits to being a nonconformist. They are driven by possibilities. They ask questions, explore, and discover. Nonconformists are the ones who shape the world. Innovation is dependent on nonconformity. Henry Ford was an American industrialist who revolutionized factory production with his assembly-line methods. He said, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
Leonardo da Vinci, the original Renaissance Man, was definitely a nonconformist. He even wrote backwards! He wrote using the mirror method because he was left-handed and didn’t want to stain the paper with ink. He was not only an amazing artist, he was also a brilliant inventor. His inventions include a flying machine based on the flight of bats, an armored tank-like vehicle, and a diving suit!
Just because you finished school, doesn’t mean you should stop learning. You are never too old, and it is never too late, to try something new. Julia Child published her first cookbook at age 50, Sam Walton founded Wal-Mart at age 44, Vera Wang designed her first dress at age 40, Laura Ingalls Wilder published the first of the “Little House” books at age 65, and Grandma Moses began her prolific painting career at age 78. It takes courage to step outside your comfort zone, but it is almost always worth it.
Being a nonconformist means thinking for yourself. Timothy Leary, an American psychologist and author said, “Almost everyone today is brain-damaged by our education which is designed to produce docile automatons.” Our children need to be taught how to think, not what to think. Others may say they have your best interest at heart, but when it comes down to it, they seldom truly do. That’s just human nature. The great thinkers didn’t take knowledge for granted. They observed and experimented. They pushed boundaries. And we can, too.
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