Be a Freak--Short, but Sweet, Blog Post

This post is going to be short and sweet, since I'm a bit under the weather. But just because that's so, doesn't make the message any less significant.

I learned an important lesson this week that pertains to art, as well as anything. It's about my wedding.

(Engagement photo of Kyle and I. Photo courtesy of Laura Shepard Photography.)

For this whole planning time (which has been about a year) I've been wanting a winter wedding. Funny thing though, most everybody I talked to told me that it was a bad idea. "Why?" I would ask, and the answer was always along the same vein... "It'll be too cold," or "I don't want to walk in the snow," or "nobody will want to come because it's cold and it's too close to the holidays." Well, it took me a while, but a friend at work finally knocked some sense into me. "Your day, your way," and you know what? She's right.

 (Photo courtesy of http://www.2jsautomotive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Freezing.jpg)
 

It's a strange thing. Many people seem to want to control the way other people live their lives. Trust me, I know quite a few. But the thing is, they think about it for two seconds when you bring it up, then it's back to their life. It's not that important what others think. Every person is the main character of their own life and a secondary character in the stories of other people. Sometimes you need to be selfish. Don't let a two second thought about your life on their part stop you. They're not thinking about you the rest of the time just like you're not obsessing about their life every second. You're in charge of your life and do what you need to do to make yourself happy.

(Photo courtesy of https://humansareweird.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/selfish.jpeg)


I talked to family and friends about it tonight and it turns out that what they thought at the beginning of the whole process changed once I told them how much it meant to me. Just think, I've been tip-toeing around what I really wanted for the past year or so (whether I knew it or not) just because I cared about what people felt. Pretty stupid, right? Kyle (my fiancé) doesn't care what happens as long as I show up and we have fun, so it doesn't matter what other people think. So we're going to go ahead with it!

 (Photo courtesy of http://emmalinebride.com/themes/christmas-wedding-ideas-red-green/)

The same is true with art. Who cares what other people think? As long as you do what you care about and work hard at it with conviction, do it. Do what you want.

(Photo courtesy of http://www.thedatingtruth.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/getwhatyouwant.jpg)

Life. It's weird. People judge people but don't often care how their life turns out, because you're not the main character in their life. So why care what they're judging you for? Move on and do great things. Be a freak!

End of story.

Mushy, I know.

So go out there, let your freak flag fly, and, as Neil Gaiman says, "Make good art."

(Photo courtesy of https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/c8/36/8d/c8368d429ebdd8c90b5eb0bbf5ba698d.jpg)

-S