I love the fact that my husband and I can talk about everything together. Usually when we go for a walk in the evening is when we really get to connect and spend time together. Even though the kids are there too, they are talking or playing and so it is almost as though we get a moment to be together.

I love having someone who I can have deep and meaningful conversations with. We also can both make each other think and by doing so, we enable each other to learn and grow. One of the things that we have talked about before is that of knowing. The question of what do you know? I talked before about how it seems that there is this one-size-fits-all mentality out there for every human being on the face of the planet. There is a mentality like this for food (whether you are vegan or not) and religion and pretty near everything else. If you don’t fit the “norm” then you are an outcast and looked down upon or viewed as though you know nothing and are bad, wrong or lost.

The question to ask (and one that I have come to ask myself) is, what do you know?

• What do you know that hasn’t been handed down to you and simply accepted as truth?
• What do you know that you weren’t just pressured or brainwashed into believing?
• What do you know that you haven’t just heard, read or watched and believed?
• What do you know that you have actually experienced to be true knowledge and understanding?
• What do you know that comes from deep within you, your unique and individual self and is something that is an expression of your innermost truth?

I never have fit the mold, though I have come close many times, in many different areas of my life. I’ve tried and I have been accepted into different groups, but in the end, my individual self was dying and I wasn’t truly happy. Over fitting in and belonging, I choose to keep my uniqueness and live my life as an expression of it. The weight on my soul is too heavy when I live any other way. I don’t want to be conformed into the mold and lose myself and my inner truth. I made the very brave decision of giving that all up to take a journey into discovering who I am and growing into the person that I was meant to be. I was terrified (and still am sometimes), but I didn’t want to be at war with myself anymore for living such a dishonest existence.

The problem with living this way and following your heart is that when you do, it can be lonely and you will likely face criticism and be judged as crazy and nonsensical. A lot of people just do not understand why people can’t accept their ways and beliefs or be their version of normal. They can’t tolerate people who think or question things. This has happened to me regarding why I would choose to live the way I do, my spirituality, being vegan, not being apart of mass consumerism and living simply.

I have come along way on my own path and it has been quite a journey. One that I believe has no soon completion. I have learned to keep striving to be myself, even though it seems so hard sometimes. What I try to remember in those times is to stay humble. I continue to be grateful and focus on the good in my everyday life, rather than the bad and the hurt of being viewed as crazy or lost, just because I don’t live or believe the same as somebody else.

I love to collect little bits of inspiration that I come across to look at in the times that I feel down or discouraged. Here are a few that I thought of as I was writing this post today.