Somewhere along the way, most of us learn that being “different” isn’t always celebrated. It starts young, back in elementary school, when standing out sometimes meant standing alone. We learned how to tone ourselves down, fit the mould, and suppress the things that made us unique. Maybe we laughed quieter, dressed exactly like the popular kid, or kept our little quirks hidden to avoid drawing attention. We shrank our rad selves down. And for many of us, that habit of dimming our light carried into adulthood—into relationships, our careers, and including our creative work.
Now, I believe the very “weirdness” we’ve spent years trying to tame is still there, like a rare gem, and it’s one of the best damn things about us. Our quirks, our oddities, our strange, beautiful ways of seeing the world—those are the things that make us fantastic. And the same is true for our art, whatever form that may take for you.
So many artists, whether beginners or seasoned pros, get stuck trying to make “acceptable” art. Art that fits in. Art that looks like what they think the world wants. But art is about truth, not conformity. It’s about pulling the strangest, most wonderful parts of yourself into the light and letting them shine. The world doesn’t need more sameness. It needs more colours that don’t match; more “wowzers” and “whoa”—more “what on earth is that?” moments. It needs YOU.
When you create from that deeply authentic place, the place where your “freak flag” flies high, you stop worrying about how your work will be received. You stop editing yourself for the imagined approval of others, and something magical happens: your work becomes alive. It has soul. It has depth. It speaks in a way that polished, “safe” work never could.
Your weirdness is your superpower. It’s the thing that makes your art stand out in a world tediously oversaturated with the perfectly blah and ordinary. For everyone’s sake, dare a little. Make some bad art, make mistakes, throw paint and see where it lands, weave and scrape and wonder what will happen when you do. Whether it’s the colours you choose, the materials you use, or the completely unconventional ideas you bring to life—those are the things that make your art yours. And the world is hungry for it. Not everyone will understand it, and that’s sooo okay. Art isn’t meant to please everyone; it’s meant to connect with those who do get it. And they will.
So let’s embrace the bizarre. Lean into different. Take chances. Make mistakes. Make a mess. Say the thing. Sing the song. Mix patterns. Be your whole, strange, f’n fantastical self, in life and in your work, because that’s what the world needs. It needs you—raw and unfiltered.
Happy New Year, Everyone.
