Camouflage

Why fit in when you were born to stand out. ~Dr. Suess

Shine your own light and let the world see. When you do so, you unconsciously give others the power to do so too.

In biology, we were taught about a certain breed of moths of which the individuals were either brown or white. In areas where the tree trunks were layered with lichen, the white moth wasn’t spotted by the predator and in areas where the lichen was absent, the brown moth was safe.

Most animals try to camouflage themselves into their surroundings. Zebras, tigers, squirrels, chameleons almost all animals in the wild try to blend into their environments for the simple reason of survival. It’s the law of nature. Charles Darwin called this the law of Natural selection.

Apparently, animals aren’t the only ones trying to conceal themselves in their turfs. Humans do it too. Since the beginning, we are taught “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”. We merge into our surroundings, society and ecosystem for the very fundamental reason that Man is a social being.

We fear isolation. We pretend to fall into “mainstream” to prevent loneliness.

Being different is easier said than done. Standing out amongst the crowd only makes us fall prey to the predators – criticism, mockery and sense of inferiority. Blending in keeps us safe. No one is happy with the predators, being happy despite them isn’t mental health. Being able to push through them in the hope of better circumstances is what mental health is.

Psychologists say loneliness leads to the lack of self-confidence. But if you have to pretend to be someone you aren’t, just for others’ approval, isn’t your self-esteem already pretty low?

Being different is not something that is being looked at in a positive light. We fear living without love, living in the doubt whether people notice our existence and appreciate it, living in a state of negligence by others. We are all scared of being alone forever with no one around to share our joys and pains with, but little do we realise that on the inside we all have the same insecurities. No one is “mainstream” because we were all made novel with a tinge of crazy.

As Dr Suess said, “We’re all a little weird and life is a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them in mutual weirdness and call it love”. Your weird friends, your people, are waiting for you… right there in the crowd. They are craving for you to shine your light so that they can shine theirs too.