No, I’m not talking about the urban dictionary definition of a snowflake. We are all sensitive people, and it’s okay to be hurt or offended by others’ actions. But there is another time and place for that discussion. This post refers to the actual snowflakes that fall from the sky and blanket the landscape.
I’m a weather nerd, so I’ve heard countless times about how every snowflake is unique. But I’m sure you learned about that in school as well. Snowflakes form from ice crystals that stick together and then fall to the earth. They take on different shapes due to the various temperature and moisture levels along the way. In other words, their journeys from the cloud to the ground make them different. It’s all about their paths, just like us humans.
Our stories and paths differentiate us from each other. My journey differs significantly from that of yours. Sure, we might both suffer from mental illness or eating disorders, but we arrived at this point in our lives in different ways. We’re all a part of the storm called life. Like a snowflake, our starting and ending points are the same. It’s what we do in between that sets us apart. When we come together in a storm, we create a beautiful landscape but only because we each have our own uniqueness.
So why don’t we celebrate this more? Why do we spend so much of our lives trying to conform to others’ expectations of us? We’re individuals. Let me repeat, individuals! We torture our minds and bodies to meet the social norms and stereotypes. I nearly lost my life trying to be someone I wasn’t because I just wanted to fit in.
Society judges us from afar, but only if we allow it to. If we remain quiet and hide our differences, we are just another snowflake falling to the ground. Just look at the recent interview with Meghan and Harry. They spoke up and quit trying to be who others told them to be. Think for a minute about the last time you saw a snowstorm. Did you pay attention to each flake and admire its brilliant uniqueness? Or did you just look from afar and see a white mass melt into other similar-looking creations?
Just like the snow on the ground, we all look the same if we don’t allow ourselves to stand out. We live in a world that often seems white as snow. If you don’t conform, then you are just some outcast. Like the infamous yellow snow. Or the dirty snow mounds in parking lots until June. You know, those snowflakes are beautiful too! They just had some difficult things happen to them along the way. In the end, we’re all going to melt away someday. Shouldn’t we celebrate our individual journeys and characteristics along the way?
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