Originality – Uniqueness – Individual
I sat on the bus with my best friend in 5th grade. We were both bundled up in our big fluffy winter jackets with our backpacks at our feet as we spoke. I reached to unzip my backpack and brought out a small locked journal. I remember that this was one of the first times that I chose to share something I wrote with someone other than a teacher or my parents. I opened the little clasped journal and showed her pictures of my little fairy people that I drew and she read the story of these little fantastical creatures that I had drawn. The next day, we were sitting on the bus again when she showed me a picture she had drawn and said she was writing a story too. A hint of panick swept inside my body. I didn’t think that this kind of thing could happen, in the world. As I looked at the drawing on the sheet of paper that she showed me, it was an exact replica of the drawing in my story. I couldn’t believe it at all. I remember telling my mom about it, crying out that this girl was stealing my story, and characters. That she was stealing my identity. Who I am. This is a true story. It was something that was hard to experience as a child. My parents always taught me to be myself; I was no one else, except myself. When I entered the real-world of school and life I found that there are some kids that grew up imitating others. I was very careful from that moment on to protect my ideas. It wasn’t until earlier this year that I truly started opening up and sharing what I was writing – with others.
We are created to be unique, original, as an individual. If we are not being our unique selves, then we are not being true to who God created us to be. From my little story up above, you may be able to see that I don’t like to be copied. I don’t understand why people copy others uniqueness. It drives me crazy, because I am me. Another person isn’t me and they have a different story to tell because their life is WAY different than mine.
All that a person can see of an individual is their outward appearance and personality and that isn’t all that makes up a person. Every person has a journey that they are on, or if you like, another way to put it, is a battle that they are fighting. I have an appearance on the outside that may look good a certain way or look somehow or I may do something a certain way that a person will like, but no one knows what I am going through deep down inside. It’s the same for the person walking down the street, she may have a tear stained face with running make-up (Just because she looks a certain way doesn’t mean that is all that is going on inside of her mind.) And this is why I hate it when people can’t embrace their uniqueness and instead downgrade to copying others. What a person see’s isn’t everything and just because that person sings amazingly, dresses cutely, or has good ideas, that doesn’t give a person a right to try be that person – Because that is their personality and not the imitator’s. The imitator needs to figure out how they are unique and live as themselves.
This is a very raw blog entry! I just needed to get it out, because I have noticed over time that people need to be aware of this.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27
Devin Berglund 