You Are A Complete, Original Design

There are a thousand ways one can begin a movement, and this is how I'd like to start mine: It snowed.

Meaning I'm inside and there are blankets on my bed, blankets on my lap and thick socks on my feet. And when I see the snow, I'm reminded of God and how beautiful His world is. To think, all the snowflakes I crush underfoot or sweep off the sidewalk are unique. Once in a lifetime. Completely their own. They don't try to be anything else. They are here for only one purpose: to blanket the earth.

Some look at snow and frown. Some roll around in the snow and make angels. Some take photos, whilst others take a shovel to the fluff. There are probably enough reactions to snow to equal the number of unique snowflake designs.

People are snowflakes. Unique in design, but identical in chemical makeup -- after all, every flake of white melts down to a tiny droplet of water.

So if the human race is different, but the same, why do we all try to be the same all the way around? I don't know about you, but sometimes I find myself trying to break off one of my little 'flake arm just so I can be like what I see in the world. Not even in the sense of becoming taller, skinnier, tanner or better, but in what I own, what I do, what I say, who I talk to. My temptation is to conform. To repeat, because...

Because...

If you like [blank] and I successfully embody [blank]... you'll love me just as much as you love [blank].*

* [blank] can equal anything, from an aesthetic to living in a beach house to wearing the latest trends.


That's the hypothesis.

In my tried and true experimental style/cycle, I have found (once more) that there is nothing like the original. So while you can try to be [blank], own [blank], or live [blank], in the end, it doesn't make people like you more.

WHY?

Because you've deviated from the original!

You. You are the original, complete, enough just as you are design.

Friend, you can do whatever you please. Rock those name brands, read those books, go on adventures. But please, don't ever feel compelled to do those things because someone at school or on your IG feed did the same thing. Don't let them make you feel bad either.

I find this urge to change the direction of my life or "recreate" certain elements in myself often, especially when I am building a website or even creating content. I feel like I need to put into action or recreate things that are intimidatingly awesome so that my following will grow -- or something petty like that.

But that's sooooo not my job.

I may draw inspiration from an element. I may even twist it and add to it and completely make it my own. But I do not need to recreate original works. It takes away from what my real job is: Making my own intimidatingly awesome original works. Because:

I am a complete, original design.

And so are you!

Action Steps:

• Step back when it comes to social media.
• Limit your time on social media, especially if it prompts you to compare yourself and your life to others.
• Write down how you feel.
• Blab it all out. Write in fragments. Completely forget grammer grammar.
• Talk to God (and/or a close friend).
• Then cry, hug it out and treat yourself to some ice cream.
• Look back at your past creative work and ask yourself: Is this completely my own? Is this ME? Does this share a piece of me?
• Create something.
• Give yourself no limitations. Just pick a message and go for it. And keep going, even if it's not what you meant it to be.

Do you find yourself trying to replicate the talent surrounding you?