I was in third grade when I wrote my own script for Star Wars: Episode 7 - long before I ever thought it would be a possibility, of course. Why is this important? Well most of the other eight year-old girls in my grade were playing soccer on the field during recess and not writing scripts.

Where I liked to read, others were watching movies that weren’t deemed appropriate for our age group. And as I got older and got to middle school, other girls started wearing make-up but I was afraid to touch the stuff myself. Instead, I was wearing red skinny jeans and a black t-shirt with musical instruments on them.

I knew I was different. At the time, I hated it. I never thought I would be grateful for it one day, though. I’m not saying I deserve some sort of reward for being different from most people my age. In fact, I’ve never really thought of myself as being “different”, I always just thought of it as being myself. What I am saying is that being a Beatles fan in the midst of everyone else singing T-Pain’s “Buy You a Drank” paid off.

I’ve never been one to follow the crowd. I was usually off doing my own thing. I was by no means “popular” and there were probably a good group of people who didn’t like me. Hey, some of them probably still don’t like me. The only difference between them and I?

I don’t care.

I have almost never cared if someone liked me or not. I am comfortable being who I am.

That being said, I don’t think people should strive to be different. I think they should strive to be who they are and stay true to themselves. Don’t mimic what the “popular” crowd does. I tried that. It sucks and I hated it. People will respect you more for being honest and real and not just a clone of everyone else.

Don’t act like you just got off of a conveyor belt in an assembly line. I promise that when you look back, you’re going to be so happy you didn’t conform to the pressure other people put on you to act “normal”. I don’t even know what normal is anymore.

I mean, have you noticed all of these social rules lately? There are supposedly designated times as to when you should post an Instagram picture so you can get a high amount of ‘likes’. Post the picture whenever you feel like it, damn it!

My point is you do not need anyone’s approval to be yourself. Being called weird in my youth was so worth it, let me tell you. I learned to be my own person and also to love who I am.