February 27, 2015 - Written by: Becky Solomon

Embrace your weirdness!

The other day I was reminded of a small thing that brought me straight back to my childhood. It was an interest of mine. I wondered why that interest had ever disappeared.

I was quite self-assured when I was younger. I was aware that people used to make fun of me for the way I looked or for my unusual interests but I didn’t care. Somewhere inside me I just thought, so what?

I wish I had that confidence now! I’ve been slowly moulded into a sensible adult.

I think during your teenage years, your childhood dreams and quirky interests get beat out of you in place of the desperate need to conform and be liked.

It’s such a shame.

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Secondary school is tough and trying to fit in is a coping mechanism. It must be one of the most difficult times of our lives and instead of celebrating the individual talents we had, we become desperate to turn into mini-adults and do adult things and be cool…whatever that is.

I was a weird child, no doubt about it. When it came to secondary school, I was too busy trying to make friends than to focus on my individual quirks. My interests in the peculiar dried up and it became all boy bands and make up.

Somewhere down the line, I must have realised fitting in wasn’t all that great.

I look back now and think, if only I really focused on this. I’m only 24 and there are so many paths I could have taken. So with my patience wearing thin with the monotony of work, my mind starts to drift and see all these other things I thought I might be and I wondered why that didn’t happen. What I’m doing now certainly wasn’t one of them.

I stand by the opinion that you’re not too old to try anything and I really think there’s something in our childhood ambitions.

You only have to look at how talent is shared. Some people just have it for certain things. I’m not sure you can teach someone to sing, or to be an exceptional painter. Sometimes it’s a confidence or fearlessness, but it’s enough to make me think we’re born with certain talents.

It is important to hold onto those dreams throughout your teenage years. Even if it’s just quietly, in the back of your mind, with an unwavering confidence that it’s not something you have to prove to anyone else, just that one day, you might just make it happen.

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If we reconnect with those dreams, it will help the feeling of restlessness we get from time to time and what’s more, it will make you smile. Even if you were a strange child like myself, I’m beginning to realise there was nothing wrong with who I was. The ones with the weird interests and have the confidence pursue them can go into all kinds of crazy specialisms.

People will tell you you can’t do something because they never tried. You can show them it’s possible.

If you enjoyed this post, why not check out ‘25 Pieces of Advice for my Little Sister‘?