DAY39: All the little labels

No one makes it through life without being labelled, without being categorized by others. They confine you to the parameters of their own understanding, and they make it very hard for you to escape. If you have ever been labelled, and like I said we all have been, you know that labels have a tendency to stick. Now if you are like me, you too find this infuriating, because a label can never tell you the whole story.

None of us are just one thing. We should stop reducing each other!

I have been labelled as weird, artsy, over-dramatic, sensitive, intense and my personal favourite different...I don't really understand that one, because different to what? Even positive labels can be a trap...smart, funny, interesting, strong, independent...because you are expected to be that all the time...How exhausting.

Human beings are complex creatures, often predictable, but complex nonetheless. We have the power to surprise, the power to change and the power to be what ever the hell we want. I am not entirely certain who I am, who are you to tell me? The world would be a better place if people spent more time trying to figure themselves out, rather than deciding what others are or are not. Find yourself first, leave others alone.

The reason why we label people is Fear...yes it is making an appearance again. If I label you, define you, put you in a box, I remove your mystery and you are no longer a threat, and the balance to my little delusional world has been restored once again.

All labels are relative, lets examine a few shall we...

Weird: All this means is that you think someone is not like you and your friends. This also means that you think you are the poster child for normal. First of all, how boring and secondly you are not as normal as you think. Someone, somewhere probably thinks you are the weird one.

Over-dramatic: What is the perfect level of dramatic, and if there is a level, it would mean that certain people are under-dramatic, that sounds much worse.

Sensitive: Again, compared to what or who? I would much rather be sensitive than insensitive, which people who label others as sensitive often are.

We can deconstruct labels all day, but I think I have made my point. It all boils down to perception, you are measuring people against yourself, and by doing this you are saying you are the universal unit of measurement of human experience, you are not, none of us are. Just because you have an opinion about someone does not make it the truth, so stop spreading it like it is the gospel. Stop doing that.

Everyone of us is made up of a million different things. You might be something today, learn a few lessons while you are there, and tomorrow you might be something else. We should allow others the space they need to grow. Allow people the time to define themselves, lets not be so arrogant as to think we have the right to do it for them.

"Labels belong on jars not on people" Thank you Anonymous, you strike again. It is a little lame...ok it is a lot lame, but there you have it. Anonymous has spoken.