It’s been a few days, but I had a creative dry spell, no point posting if you have nothing to say. But the other day I was thinking, (I say that a lot when I start these posts,) of how hard it can be to put myself in any designated people group.

Yesterday I was a an ASL class, and we were told to describe ourselves with a list of sign words, and I kept using opposites.

I like to think I’m unpredictable. But my family probably would disagree. I don’t fit into any category except perhaps homeschooled, which is general.

Maybe you aren’t aware of this if you don’t know homeschoolers, but we have our own set of stereotypes. So do churchgoers. We have both what we think most people think we are like, and what we think of each other. There was a survey once that found the people who responded all thought they were fairly average, but everyone else was strange. Or maybe you feel everyone else is normal, and you are strange.

Well, the most normal people in the world are the most boring. But for some reason we all feel we need to have groups, so we can understand others, and they’ll understand us. But seriously? Who really understand anyone in another group if they have not mingled with them and heard what they have to say?

Religious people are famous nowadays for being close–minded. And I’ll readily admit some of them/us are; but the fact is religion doesn’t make you close minded, you can be that way no matter what you believe in or don’t believe. Fear is the real cause.

I hate being generalized. When someone writes me off because of my age, or even my intellect, or my homeschooled education; they assume I think one way and they think another way. Or maybe we think the same because I’ve had a good bringing up. (Does anyone but me remember that phrase bringing up?) but even though it drives me crazy, I went through a phase where I was constantly trying to decide what group I fit into, whether by age, skills, temperament, beliefs, or personality. I seemed to be searching for an identity but each of these things was only a part of me, and I had on and off moments.

I could say I’m artsy, crafty, and creative; but what about the times I don’t feel inspired to do any of those things?

I could say I’m intellectual, but what about when I just don’t want to think or learn and when I want to curl up with a book or a movie and forget about the outside world.

I could say I’m radical, but what about when I feel mellow?

There you see? This isn’t just me, we all feel this fluctuating of our interests and our traits. You could say the human soul is like the tide, it rises and falls, in and out, some days its string, other days it’s just not.

And whatever words you would use to describe yourself, remember that no list can cover it.  A list is other people’s options that they give you, sometimes they’re good, other times they aren’t.

We love to create classes of the population. It’s what cliques, fandoms, parties, and demographics are about. And maybe you technically fit into one, but I think what’s inside a person can’t be put into one class or another. To paraphrase Gianna Jessen’s words, “No one cans ay to you this is how far you will go and no further.” Remember that though the message of not being prejudiced can be over preached, it is still true.

It bothers me when I hear others make generalizations about thousands of people, saying they are all idiots, or evil, or biased, or whatever.

Judge not lest you be judged, right?

Well, I hope this made sense, and you got something out of it. I was just thinking through writing. Until next post, don’t get classified–Natasha.