Viva la difference!
I've always been different, questioning, nonconforming, pain in the ass type, you know.
I do not fit the mold or fashions, because I want to act and live differently. But if there aren´t types like these who think otherwise, nothing changes, ever. There are signs that suggest being different would be in fashion at last..!
This is a truly liberating news: to be who you are. That alone should be enough.
The world give prizes to nonconformists, then why not in Finland.
Finland Nonconformist in 2011 were, therefore, Faces festival and fashion designer Mai Niemi. Is there no other? But let´s say: iIn´t nice to be finally awarded of being diffrent!
Things change, but not the Finnish design. Boring seriousness is far less interesting in the world than our creative madness. I mean, at least, I will show creative madness during Helsinki World Design Capitol year 2012 , which is just around the corner.
Reasoning for the Nonconformist 2011 Award were these:
Everydays revolutionizing innovations need to be born out of a lot of courage, a number of repetitions (means head shots on the wall), the number of various failures and a dash of good luck. Above all, however, required is the the willingness and ability to go against the flow and act differently than is customary.
So it is.
Last night the idea of difference began to puzzle me a lot. I really needed once again to take my head from the bush, where it is so easily lost. Being incospicuous and invisibility really does start to bother eventually. After all, it is so that when you try to merge the mass, conceal yourself in nonexpressive silence, a lot of fun in life is missed out.
Opposing the diversity and avoiding all those who are labeld different has taken enormous proportions in the world. In Finland, it has haunted us forever. It has been wiser to be on the safe side and not to take any risks, otherwise labeled as a village gone mad!
Fashion Designers dreamland this is not, as no one is really excited about their originality. So who to sell something else? My designs?
Free individuals can be counted. However, many middle-aged women in a flash decide to liberate themselves, and come off the convention boxes. They are joyous to watch.
However, I have had a very different experience when I lived in London. There originality is very desirable and admired. The stranger the better.
Well, back to Finland and elsewhere. I t is said that the world is a mirror ... So if you oppose something, it's in you. Unless you can tolerate diversity in others, you cannot put up with it in yourself. Cheerful!
So, this is the medicine: stop opposing yourself and go along with life. Do not live against yourself and your life all the time. Yoga has such a term as Ahimsa. It means nonviolence towards oneself.
In Finland we say Himassa when we are at home. So the new term for living along yourself could be Himsa? Long live diversity! Viva la Difference! Peace in the body, peace in the world.
