Thinking Outside the White Box

Dare to be Different.

Think outside the box.

Cliche's are soo....cliche.

Don't be boring.

Live out Loud.

These words are tossed in our faces. Phrases we bump into on almost a weekly basis, if not daily.

"Don't try to copy someone else, when the original you is best."

Yeah yeah.

We know these words are wise. We want to follow them. All of us want to be unique, we don't want to be like everyone else. We want to create, write, think, imagine, something that no one else has done before.

But, the question is...how?

With the help of Facebook, making it easier to stalk, I mean, follow other people, see their ideas, their creatings, (yeah, I made up a word, what what?) writings, imaginations, and thoughts. To see hundreds, if not thousands of different people and what they have created. And don't forget Facebook's trusty super side-kick, Pinterest. Oh my. It's FILLED to the brim with ideas. But...are any of them truly YOURS? Then there are those evil little villains, master of disguises these ones are, every thought that has ever happened, can be found on them.
Blogs.
Because there are millions of them. I mean it. Millions.

You can't help but look at these things and wonder if there will ever be a way when you see something with your own mind's eye. That's truly yours. Not a bit of it came from, Facebook it's side-kick Pinterest or their trusty friend Blogs.

Some have taken the oath....

"I (insert name here) vow to never read another person's blog. To stay clear from stalking other's facebook pages, and last but not least, plunge my own eyes out with a fork before I dare say look at Pinterest"

Okay, maybe that was a bit graphic.

But really..

What do you do?

Be original.

How?

Some like to say. "Well that's easy! Be Yourself!"

Okay, but HOW?!

Now I'm not purposefully trying to come across as a two year old. But you know what, there is nothing wrong with that. Keep asking the same question over and over again until, finally, someone gives you a decent answer. (or you just grow tired, want some animal crackers, apple juice, and a nap.)

Well, you know, to each person their own. But I say...
dive into the ocean of Facebook, swim through the sea of blogs, and enjoy the wave pool of Pinterest.

See what others are seeing.

Our life is what makes us, us. Who our friends are. The family that we are with. The city we grew up in. The choices we make. The places we see.
But what if we can't be friends with a world known artist? Or we've never seen the ocean for ourselves? What if we made this one choice, while someone made this other one? What if we were born in Ohio and not in California?
Stick an infant in a room. White walls. White floors. No windows. No toys. No colors. No noise. No nothing. Let him grow up there.
Will he be able to ever imagine anything?
The answer, is no. (although, this has never been scientifically actually done, so I don't have legit stats to give you...but..would you agree?)

So these places we can venture to online and talk to others about. And see what they see. Is like the splash of colors and music thrown into our white room.

We don't all see things the same way. Sit and stare at the clouds with a friend and see what you each find in the shapes. It'll be different every time.

Be yourself. But challenge yourself..to be yourself. Don't take the easy course and directly copy someone, but take their experiences and insights and add them to your own. It's the way you look at something and what your brain and heart and soul tells you, that makes you different.

So go Explore!

Yes, I know my Blogs don't always make sense. And I have a really bad habit of always rambling on and on and on... I don't even know what my point is. And nor do I feel like I am actually in any kind of position to give advice and explain things, because I'm still trying to figure it all out...Am I making any sense?? Am I?!


...where's my animal crackers, apple juice and a nap??