When you’re strange

I’m not impressed by someone’s Lexus or other fancy car. The McMansion on the hill is an opportunity lost. All those materials could have built something interesting instead of a big impractical house.

I’m the guy driving around in a decommissioned ambulance and living in a dome. If you want to impress me, drive a hearse and live in a yurt. Heck, the guy who rides a cargo bicycle and lives in a cave is more interesting.

Street performers and hobos catch my attention more than famous actors.

Why do all the oddballs and weirdos inspire me? These are all people who’ve stepped out of the mold. Some have walked a different path on purpose. Others have slipped off the path and found themselves in a place more interesting.

Some follow the beat of a different drummer, but a few follow the bleat of a different kazoo.

Growing up we have a lot of expectations put on us. Parents have expectations. School does its best to cram us into a few pigeon holes. The working world has requirements that must be met. Our government expect citizens to fit within an acceptable range. Friends want and expect certain behaviors.

People who listen to their own inner voice and act on it are rare indeed. The world has tried hard to chain that little voice, muffling it or putting it in a tight harness. Free people stick out.

That’s what impresses me: men and women who’ve chosen freedom. The path can be hard or easy, but it’s their’s alone. They may look and act strange -mavericks do not have to conform.

Economies are failing. Governments are falling. Political philosophies don’t work. Chaos grows. Following the old tried and true paths no longer produce the promised results. The loyal, dedicated, and competent employee gets canned anyway. The new college grad cannot find decent full time work. Property doesn’t gain value but loses it.

What’s a person to do? Learn from the strange ones. The collapse of old orders mean little to them as they’ve nothing invested in them.

Whether you want them to or not, your chains are breaking. They may have been nice soft and warm chains, but they bound you none the less. Good luck dealing with limitless opportunities for change.

Are you strange enough to survive?

-Sixbears