I Recommend…
This post is just a reminder for you, while I finish up my next award-winning post. You know, living your life outside the chains of societal norms in a way that nurtures you personally does not have to include forsaking it all and hitting the road. Not at all. There is no pre-established path to follow, because you are uniquely you. If you want to consider your own values and needs, and explore an alternative approach for yourself – but without the crazy – consider visiting The Art of Non-Conformity and begin sawing your way through some of the mind-prodding posts. It used to be more centered, with just one writer, but the new change-up to having contributing authors isn’t all that bad either. It’s also a refreshing change of pace from hearing me whine about how how my A/C broke in the heat and humidity of the Midwest, or how awesome the Mighty Furd is.
Just recall that no one has a step-by-step formula, a “live this way” recipe for you to mindlessly follow, mimicking their own paths and mirroring their own outlooks and values, whether bright or dark. Giving you unfamiliar things to ponder can be good. Urging you to become their clone can be bad, because it’s your life. We all want easy answers, a guide and a map, but a life worth living doesn’t come that easily. Simply exchanging sets of chains doesn’t cut it. Stay true to yourself along the way, and you will be better able to separate the crap from the diamonds as you face each day. Life is a gift. Take advantage of it.
Strolling Amok 
Well said!
Thank yew!
I read a sign the other day that said something like, “Quit waiting for me to be normal. Ain’t going to happen.” It is so nice to finally be able to declare that after all my years of trying to be normal.
“Normal” brings to mind a quote by Albert Einstein: “The one who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The one who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been.” And Rollo May said, “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it’s conformity.”