I spent the majority of yesterday with the Disney Channel buzzing in the background.
They ran a day-long Halloween special. My son’s a real trooper when I’ve got work to do, and he loves to sing along with cartoons.
The Square Pumpkin caught both of our attentions. Suddenly, I was as glued to the screen as my boy, and we were both bopping our heads to the rhythm of this poor little pumpkin’s misery.
Of course all the other pumpkins in the patch made fun of the square squash. And he cried and sulked – as many of us would do if we were cursed with such a fate.
The whole thing brought back so many childhood memories.
I was the square pumpkin. It always seemed to be my inevitable fate – but I sort of reveled in it. In fifth grade I gave all my jeans to the Salvation Army and resolved to only wear pink or black stretch pants. All the other kids in my school wore jeans and I just couldn’t stand to be like the rest of them.
I continued on my square path for a long while – doing things differently than the rest and refusing to cave to peer pressure. I was also one of the only white kids in my school – and much of my “weirdness” was blamed on that. Kids can say and do mean things.
But somewhere in between nerdy and eccentric I became entrepreneurial and one of a kind. College can do that for ya. All of a sudden it’s cool to be smart. It’s cool to start your own business. It’s cool to take the un-beaten path.
If you’re an entrepreneur who’s never gone through the square pumpkin phase – I’d really like to hear your story. I think most of us go through a period of shunning and misunderstanding. We’ve got ideas that challenge the norm – and that’s great game for childish mockery.
Being different can cause pain. But being the same is boring.
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I think to a large degree, I’ve always been that square peg in that round hole. There was a point in time when I “fought” against who I was — trying to be someone that I wasn’t. But it wasn’t until that I accepted that it was OK to be different; ok to be smart; and ok to go against the grain… that I was really able to move forward on a trajectory that I haven’t looked back since… Being different rocks! I wouldn’t have it any other way. Status-quo is no fun, right?
I always sort of felt that I couldn’t be any other way than what I am — so I didn’t try to hard to fight it. Fought hard (and still do) to try and make others understand me. Yes it rocks! And yes it is worth the struggle. And once you really come to grips with that –that’s when you can really start making things happen. Start making positive changes. Then, suddenly the doubters are buying your stuff and reading YOUR column.