The day I sat down to write this, it was raining so hard, biblical amounts of water were falling out of the sky. I needed to fill the car up with fuel, and also it needed a car wash, which is usually something people tend to do on nice days. However, undeterred, I moved forwards with my plan as a clean car is something I really love.
I paid for my fuel and then asked for a carwash, and the person at the till turned to me deadpan and said to me; ‘why would you want to wash your car today?’
For a minute I blanked, and they carried on ‘it won’t stay clean for a minute, you’re throwing your money away.' I mumbled something about not being able to see out of the back window, and they eventually printed the code for me, and I left with my tail between my legs.
I sat in my car, as the brushes swirled and moved across the panels, wiping away weeks of dirt and grime. It is weird but at that moment I felt embarrassed that I had decided to do something out of the perceived norm.
Then, as the drier swung over the roof as the rain continued to hammer down, I realised that my whole life has been about going against what is considered normal. If I had always played it safe, and stuck to what was considered normal - I would have never achieved anything.
This includes my first book, future writing projects, and my entire approach to my working life. It isn’t that I am hooked on risks, more that not taking a risk and forging my own path would have been the biggest risk; missing out on a life lived on my own terms.
It seems startling to say this in 2023, but now more than ever, please go your own way, and do what feels right for you, not others. The only person you need to please is yourself, so go forth and do just that. Even if people think you are weird for getting your car washed during a storm!
Weird is good, weird is limited edition, it is not seen often - you, my darling, are special because you are brilliantly different. After all, being like everyone else would make for a pretty boring existence - so go your own way darling!
Shot by Ruth Pechey
