A wallflower is defined as a person who is shy and not very sociable, like the kid you see at a school dance who does not leave the wall while clenching fruit punch like it’s their best friend. He may appear as a loner to many people, but being a wallflower is not necessarily a bad thing. When I was younger, I did not know what being a wallflower meant, I just knew that I was the girl at family parties that read a book rather than playing with my cousins or would swim by myself at the neighborhood pool parties.
I even brought my violin to parties, not because I wanted to show off my menial skills, but because it allowed me to be on my own. Most children would rather play outside with their friends and I would play with my friends when I wanted to, but I also enjoyed time by myself. I never saw anything wrong with being by myself at social gatherings. Naturally, my parents thought something was wrong with me because what kid likes to be independent? What little girl chooses to read instead of play tag with the other children? Crazy, I know.
I’ve come to learn that being a wallflower isn’t as negative as many people make it out to be. Yes, we are the people at the party that don’t go around and talk to everybody, but we are the ones who see things differently. We are the people who absorb what is happening around us. We are the people who are shy, but if you give us a chance to open up then we are actually pretty cool. We are independent creatures who watch the world around us and understand it in a different way. We listen to other people’s opinions instead of giving our own.
We are the people who do things by ourselves at times and that is okay with us. We are the watchers not the doers. We take time to watch what is happening around us and we notice the little things that other people don’t. We all have a bit of wallflower in us whether it be a big or small part of us. We are all shy at times and we all can be socially awkward at times too. We cannot be outgoing 100% of the time and that is okay, that does not mean we are outcasts. A wallflower is more than just clinging to a wall at a school dance, it is about being yourself and being unique which is not a bad way to live.
