Unconventional

Your spirit is starving if your only nutrition has been food and drink. Having never appreciated the cat stalking the leaf in the garden like a petite cougar, you are unprepared for other things the universe puts before you – that you ignore because you have work to do.

The realms of the unearthly and the spirit are denied to you because you spend no time contemplating the shapes of clouds or the procession of seasons.

Failure to watch the tides or walk the beaches looking for stones and shells has impoverished your imagination. This syndrome is sometimes associated with never watching the skies at night for falling stars.

If not stopping to wonder at the puddle your toddler finds so involving is a symptom, you may be living a conventional life. 

Yes, I know, people typically associate the unconventional with big things – living large, traveling, the party circuit, attending gallery openings, and the like. But much of the unconventional can be found in the little things of Life.

My favorite Hunter S. Thompson quote is: “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!” 

I’d maintain that being unconventional is not always associated with being Wild in big terms. Although a little buggy boogie is not a bad thing, mind you! It’s also the little things and what you make of them. It’s what separates you from the common herd with their eyes straight forward. It’s not your wealth, education, money in the bank or social position.

So go track the stars, follow the tides, be outrageous and become known for esoteric observations on nature. Don’t be conventional.