The Art of Standing Out

Hello Again!

I'm back...

You and I are groomed to think the same. Can't you see?

From social media to tv commercials, and wherever we set our eyes upon, even on billboards, there seems to be a standard for everything.

How do you adapt to this kind of society when you look like a sore thumb?

For starters in social media, everybody sets the bar high. Posts here and there about trips and vacays. The food trips and shopping and the lavish lifestyles a lot of people showed in their timelines. I do believe there's nothing wrong with that if you have the means. I mean, why not. If you have it, flaunt it.

But what if you don't have the means and the money and you felt so much pressure from your peers, trust me that is the hardest to deal with.

I am guilty of trying to please my crowd in the past. To whoever listened, I wanted them to hear only good things. To whoever watches, I show them wonderful stuff and I make sure they see only "my good side". (When spotlights turned off, there's this gaping hole as big and wide as the ocean inside me having to stomach my facades)

At this stage in my life, I've grown tired of all the artifice, I no longer need approval from people I don't even know. Who am I kidding?

• (Photo: Taken at our yard. This flower is a depiction of who I am now. Wild and free but not that wild. :))

I can be in my pajamas and go out of the house and buy stuff and I don't give a care how people see me. To me, it doesn't matter. :)) I know I rock the PJs and I am beautiful.

Do you know what I've realized? It's liberating when you no longer have to put on a smile each time someone backstabs you, you just simply avoid them and never have to face them, ever. (I was taught to put on a smile despite bad behavior directed at me or keep mum when someone throws ugliness toward me)

I don't need people to validate my existence. I am Vang, a warrior, a princess, an heiress, a good and loving Ma and I am God's beautiful creation, an apple to His eyes. I am embracing myself and standing out as I should whether society accepts me or not. As long as I am within the bounds of God's standard, I care not what they say about me. I'll dare to be different.

Blessings to you all!