“You must be the source of your own illumination; remain tenacious, patient, determined. Some days you won’t be able to summon any of these feelings, and in that case, give yourself the day off. But come morning, rise again.”
- The Outsider as Visionary, Part II

Tai Carmen of Parallax has written a beautiful article about being an outsider and a visionary. It’s powerful and offers important support. Support that I feel is so necessary and so rare.

I’ve come to a deeper realization of the fact that I do not care for convention. My purpose here on Earth is to realize my dreams, actualize my human potential and discover the universe through my subjective experience. And to share all the beauty of this experience through art. This is what I live for.

I’m starting to see the necessity for a supportive, creative community of geniuses, outsiders and visionaries who want to use their lives to celebrate how beautiful it is to be an embodied spirit. Who want to consciously allow their imagination and creativity to soar free. Who realize that there is strength and beauty in this way of life.

I envision a space in which we can all flourish on our own terms. A space in which we can gather to support each other and to understand that we’re not alone. A space in which we don’t have to feel self-conscious about our dreams and our loves. I want to help support others who may not necessarily have access to support, like I never used to.

No-one should have to feel alienated simply because they do not want ordinary. For people like myself, there isn’t much that a conventional lifestyle has to offer and this is perfectly fine. Despite what many around us may lead us to believe, this doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with our psychology or way of life. In fact, it is actually so important to let go of the idea that there is something wrong with us and that we’re obligated to undergo a painful process of ‘adjustment’ before we have a rightful place in society. Remember what Jiddu Krishnamurti said: “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”

We can let go completely of feeling forced to adjust and in feeling obligated to sacrifice our unique individuality in order to placate those around us, but it is really important to also focus on growing our beautiful potential so that we can self-actualize. How can we use our gifts to create experiences and objects invested with truth, beauty and spirit for humanity? We are needed, whether society recognizes this or not. There’s so much we can contribute to humanity, especially at this juncture in its existence. Sometimes we have to take the first step forward to realize this for ourselves.

Here are three other things that people have said that have really stuck with me, these last few days:

1. “If the absurd experience is truly the realization that the universe is fundamentally devoid of absolutes, then we as individuals are truly free. I had to believe in this because: if there are no absolutes, then mistakes are okay. Bad experiences are okay. Good ones are still awesome. Since I’m a speck of dust and will go back together with the universe, then I’m fine to experience all pleasure, pain, goodness, wrong-doing, etc. Living now and creating any purpose = the most beautiful thing we can cherish with this life.”
- Matt Ramos in an email

2. “It’s not even about what you DO or don’t do — just for existing, people won’t like you. So we might as well be who we really are.”
- Gala Darling

3. “Recently I started thinking about that saying … do what you will & harm none. It was weird seeing that quote in a new light … it became literal instead of a platitude. You could literally do whatever you liked and behave however you wanted so long as you didn’t hurt anyone (who wasn’t purposefully hurting you first). It’s like liberation.”
- my good friend Cat, in an email

We’re free, you know? I live now with this knowledge in my heart, irrevocably transformed. We can’t control how other people will react to us or what the outside world will deal us, but we’re absolutely free in how we choose to deal with this thing called life. We can fashion wonderful things out of it.

To choose to do this out of free will is something beautiful that deserves encouragement, love and nurturing.