If you're like me,  you're not in your sweet spot around rules. I've never been comfortable with rules. I never wanted to go the same direction as the crowd. Never fit in. Always an oddball.

This is not braggadosio, it's truth and something I have made friends with over the years. It's not easy being green Ask Kermit the Frog. Maturity helps. You grow into your oddity. You speak your oddity with authority when you grow up, and you have a few credits under your belt, and people listen.

Teachers don't always understand kids who march to their own drummer. Oddball teachers love odd kids. Ever notice that? Oddballs love other oddballs.  Parents scratch their heads and worry if their child will conform enough to be part of society and succeed in life.

Well, my mom never worried about that. She was a bit of an oddball too. She definitely marched to her own drummer. My two sisters are also oddballs. We're all goofy.  The interesting thing is that we look normal on the outside. I wonder how many people are walking around, looking average when they are different.

You know what? I suspect we're all oddballs. Some of us just don't bother to hide it.

Maybe it's a matter of finding your unique family of oddballs. I felt like I woke up to real life when I went away to design school in Rhode Island and was with kindred spirits. It was a perfect fit, at last!  You eventually find your family of odds.

Mindless conformity makes me twitch! Of course, stopping at red lights and stop signs is fine. I didn't say lawless. Pay taxes. Keep order in your home. Eat well and get enough sleep. Be kind to everyone and kinder to others. Other than that, do it your way.

Everybody here has embraced nonconformity in some way just by being here and by doing something intelligent, but not mainstream.  I read carefully what you write. I must say, I greatly admire you all as human beings.

There is so much rich material at WA to digest. Remember though, as beneficial as it is to follow a proven track, it's better to find your own track that has been inspired by another person's track. You just might get a bright idea that catapults you ahead.