September 16, 2006

  • a repost...


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    THE CONFINES OF CONFORMITY

    The freedom of want
                vs.
    The chains of should

    What I crave
            vs.

     What I am told
    is "good for me"

    Who is anyone else
        to tell me what is
    good for me?

    What do they know
        of what is underneath it all?
    What do they know
        of the total makeup
                of me?

    Why would they even venture to assume
        that what makes them happy
            would be the answer
        to my unhappiness as
    well?

    And I don't mean their suggestions,
        I mean their expectations
           that I follow those suggestions -
            and their disappointment
                when I don't.

    But...
        if I followed their formulas
        I would be playing myself false.

    I know.
    I've tried.
     I have!

    But in an attempt to explain,
        I encounter only judgment
            and
    pity
                or
            blank incomprehension
        in their eyes
    despite their empty words
        of consolation
        and acceptance.

    I have let them down.

     I am offered solutions
    but if they don't fit me...
        ...if I don't use them
    then I become rejected.
    I don't "measure up."

              Why?

    I simply don't fit 
    within the confines of
    conformity.

    Am I destined forever
            to be
    a lonely group of one?

    © drc 01/05/2004