Forge
Your Own Trail
“The
person who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The
person who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever seen
before.”
Albert
Einstein
I
attended a Zoom lecture last night given by a young man who happens to have
Schizophrenia. He and some of his friends, who have similar diagnoses, spoke about
the mental health system and its treatment of this disorder. They have
experienced not being listened to, not being understood, and having little
if any personal contact with their physician. They feel that the medical
establishment has written them off as a “case” and ceased to see them as a
human being. Once a diagnosis is determined, the physician treats the disorder
and not the individual who has it. These young people have experienced being
different for most of their lives. Any human being, even one with Schizophrenia,
is far more complex than their one difference, but somehow, the difference becomes
their identity.
Most
people who were in the group didn’t want to be flatlined by traditional psychiatric medications. Even though psychiatry calls them dissociated, they experience
some of their “visions” as holy. I don’t know what the solution is here, and do
not pretend to, but I, too, have experienced being “different,” which is a
broad category that includes everything from being poor, to blind, to
intellectually challenged, to being a math prodigy. In a culture that mostly
follows the crowd it is awkward to be different. Just as with a flock of
chickens, the pecking order is a real thing, and people who are different tend
to be at the low end of the pecking order. It’s not right, but it is
unfortunately true.
As a child
who is trying to find his/her place in the world, having a difference can be exceptionally
hard. Even small differences can feel like major hurdles. But, believe it or
not, there is life after high school. People do grow up. And then, being
different is an asset. If you can give up trying to follow the crowd, perhaps
because you simply can’t, perhaps because you choose not to, there is a good
possibility of growing into who you truly are. As Luna Lovegood, in the Harry
Potter (J.K. Rowling) series said, “Being different isn’t a bad thing. It means
you’re brave enough to be yourself.”
There’s something to be
said about striking one’s own trail—taking a new and different route. Maybe
even exploring territory where no one has ever been before. As Gandalf said in
Lord of the Rings, “Not all who wander are lost.” He was right. Some of
us are simply unable or unwilling to follow the crowd—Albert Einstein was, and
he turned out okay, don’t you think? It’s helpful to consider your differences to
also be your strengths, and to allow the crowd to go wherever crowds go. You
have your own path to follow.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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