Funny how that works sometimes. Time to write.
Fitting in. I suppose whether it's good or bad depends on why you're doing it. I can think of plenty of times when it's necessary to fit in - like if you're joining the army. I've not been in the army, but from what I understand, you pretty much better learn to take orders and do what they say. An army can't be very effective with a lot of people questioning orders, saying, "Um, no, I have a better idea..."
However, I suppose that's not what Laozi was talking about, and I think the quote was very relevant to my thoughts of that day.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog entry about strength training - medieval style - with the Society of Creative Anachronism. My daughter and I planned to attend the big annual get-together in Salem, VA called "Ice Castles," where they were going to have a combat tournament as well as hold court for the investiture of the new Baron & Baroness of the Barony of Black Diamond (where we live in the Kingdom of Atlantia.) People were bringing their sciences and crafts and it all sounded so interesting that we couldn't wait to see it all.
However, we were a little worried about fitting in. We are totally new to this. We don't know all the proper ways to speak, such as the way to greet people. We don't have any medieval garb of our own and it was going to be cold and windy outdoors, to boot. So we borrowed some garb from a woman in our local group, and we layered up with 3 shirts and 2 pairs of running tights/track pants underneath our dresses. We hoped that would be enough to keep us warm as we didn't want to ruin the atmosphere by wearing modern outerwear.
Then I saw the quote that 1CrazyDog shared. I realized that by worrying about our appearance, not only was I making myself a prisoner - but I was most likely only making myself a prisoner in my own mind. Probably the people at this event would not care if we wore a coat if we were cold. If we didn't know what to say or do, probably all we'd have to do was ask.
And that's exactly how it was. We brought our coats in case we needed them, but we ended up being warm enough in our layers. We did wear regular hats, gloves, and scarves, however. We met many nice people who explained what was going on at court and on the field, and we enjoyed ourselves very much. At the tournament, we even saw a few spectators come who weren't in period garb at all.
So I am glad we got out of our comfort zone and tried something new, without worrying too much about fitting in. Here's a picture of my daughter with Signy, the current Princess of Atlantia. She happens to be the twin sister of my running friend Carter (aka Thora - the former Queen of Atlantia), who I mentioned in my other blog post. My daughter thoroughly enjoyed watching Signy fight in battle, and hopefully we'll be able to attend the event where she becomes queen.
So all this is a reminder to me and a lesson to my daughter to get out of your comfort zone sometimes - don't worry too much about fitting in. Don't be shy. Just introduce yourself, ask questions, and be unafraid to try something new.
Have you been lurking on SparkPeople? Maybe today is the day to join the discussion!
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