Being Different
As a little girl, I used to love playing with my brother's toy cars. I would roll them on the marble floor, set up ramps for them, and I would create stories as I played. I remember many times seeing myself floating above myself, watching myself as I played for hours quietly with those beloved cars. As I got older, I would have those "weird" experiences, which I will call "out of body experiences". I am here, but my consciousness leaves my physical body and I can see myself from above. It only would happen when I was by myself in a quiet contemplative state. I was never scared, just surprised when I "returned". I would always think to myself, "I'm back."
As a teenager, I was painfully shy, and learned how to make myself "invisible" to protect myself. I always felt I was different. I wasn't interested in a lot of what the other kids were doing, and as a recent immigrant who dressed differently, I was reserved, quiet, and observant. Then I realized to be invisible, I needed to blend in more. So I got the tight jeans, the Lacoste shirt, and the uniform Nikes. Except, I WANTED to be different, so I found the jeans that had purple stitching instead of yellow, I found a Lacoste shirt color that no one was wearing, and I got the aqua colored Nikes instead of white.
As a young adult in the 80's, I wore the latest fashions, but always with my signature "uniqueness". My goal as a twenty-something was to attract attention everywhere I went. So wore the tightest and shortest skirts, the brightest contrasting colors, and the highest heels I could find. My "uniqueness" was just happened to be in the beginning of the Latin craze. I prided myself in being different, bu also in attracting attention as I walked into a room.
I had a boyfriend that after dating a few years, he decided I was dressing inappropriately and tied to suggest I change my style. That didn't work. Then I met my husband, who happened to be Brazilian, and actually appreciated my style. Then I had children. I was left with no time or energy for any kind of style except comfort. I was still different. Not too many people had 3 children under the age of 6, so that kept me in the running of being different.
Having children redefined my priorities, and my main purpose became taking care of them. I learned to appreciate, differentiate, and respect their own uniqueness. One day, my oldest daughter complained to me, "Why do I have to bring "different" food to school? Why do I have to bring weird stuff like hummus, celery and snow peas? Why can't I just get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread like everyone else? I told her: "Because we're different."
hen I became a yoga teacher, I celebrated my student's varying personalities and traits. I have always looked at people and seen goodness. Sometimes I would have a difficult student in class. I became curious as to their state of being. And usually the difficult students were the ones going through difficulties in their lives or bodies. As compasion grew in my heart, I put myself in their shoes, knowing that sometimes being different can hurt.
If we take away the differences, the pain and suffering, the cloud that shrouds the divinity within. When that is removed, what's left is eternal light.
Different people enter and exit our lives at various stages of our lives. What makes them different? Lady Gaga is the personification of being different. Why is she being embraced by so many different kinds of people? Precisely because she has tapped into her own unbounded consciousness. What happens to us when we remove all the physical elements and roles we play? What is left is our own true nature. The essence of who we are. And in that essence it turns out we are all unbounded consciousness. We are different and the same. We may drive different cars, and be connected or disconnected to our bodies, but ultimately our atoms are in the end all the same.
As a teenager, I was painfully shy, and learned how to make myself "invisible" to protect myself. I always felt I was different. I wasn't interested in a lot of what the other kids were doing, and as a recent immigrant who dressed differently, I was reserved, quiet, and observant. Then I realized to be invisible, I needed to blend in more. So I got the tight jeans, the Lacoste shirt, and the uniform Nikes. Except, I WANTED to be different, so I found the jeans that had purple stitching instead of yellow, I found a Lacoste shirt color that no one was wearing, and I got the aqua colored Nikes instead of white.
As a young adult in the 80's, I wore the latest fashions, but always with my signature "uniqueness". My goal as a twenty-something was to attract attention everywhere I went. So wore the tightest and shortest skirts, the brightest contrasting colors, and the highest heels I could find. My "uniqueness" was just happened to be in the beginning of the Latin craze. I prided myself in being different, bu also in attracting attention as I walked into a room.
I had a boyfriend that after dating a few years, he decided I was dressing inappropriately and tied to suggest I change my style. That didn't work. Then I met my husband, who happened to be Brazilian, and actually appreciated my style. Then I had children. I was left with no time or energy for any kind of style except comfort. I was still different. Not too many people had 3 children under the age of 6, so that kept me in the running of being different.
Having children redefined my priorities, and my main purpose became taking care of them. I learned to appreciate, differentiate, and respect their own uniqueness. One day, my oldest daughter complained to me, "Why do I have to bring "different" food to school? Why do I have to bring weird stuff like hummus, celery and snow peas? Why can't I just get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread like everyone else? I told her: "Because we're different."
hen I became a yoga teacher, I celebrated my student's varying personalities and traits. I have always looked at people and seen goodness. Sometimes I would have a difficult student in class. I became curious as to their state of being. And usually the difficult students were the ones going through difficulties in their lives or bodies. As compasion grew in my heart, I put myself in their shoes, knowing that sometimes being different can hurt.
If we take away the differences, the pain and suffering, the cloud that shrouds the divinity within. When that is removed, what's left is eternal light.
Different people enter and exit our lives at various stages of our lives. What makes them different? Lady Gaga is the personification of being different. Why is she being embraced by so many different kinds of people? Precisely because she has tapped into her own unbounded consciousness. What happens to us when we remove all the physical elements and roles we play? What is left is our own true nature. The essence of who we are. And in that essence it turns out we are all unbounded consciousness. We are different and the same. We may drive different cars, and be connected or disconnected to our bodies, but ultimately our atoms are in the end all the same.
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