For too long normality has been the enemy of everything motivation has been propelling. It has gotten so bad that one would be made to believe that the words normal and hypocrisy are synonymous. However, this has also finally led to the emergence of a new kind of people. A people who for too long have been suppressed and not allowed to live authentically in the name of being normal.
This movement has not only become expressive, but it has also brought a breath of fresh air. It has also come to somehow expose normality on its notion of labelling being different as everything negative. There has been no way that uniqueness and authenticity could have gotten away with being labelled as either rebellious or delinquent. Nor has there been instances where differing opinions and convictions got to somewhat be punished. Even history has documented tales of those who dared to live out and express their identity. In most cases though, their tales did not end that well. Their tendency and ambitions to go against the grain got them more loss than gain.
It is not that complicated though and no one could have not bore witness to this. Even in school, instances have or do occur where one kid, who has the courage to exercise their constitutional freedom of expression, gets labelled of every connotation possible. They would earn any adjective between crazy and weird, if not lunatic or problem child. What one may not realize is that the individual is not necessarily the problem. The problem is conformity.
If conformity were a person, even in comparison to Hitler, would probably be the vilest person to walk the earth. This is for the fact that conformity has killed millions of dreams, inventions, and possible great life experiences. The best accomplice in this brutality would obviously be normality.
Normality has not only robbed the world of its genius but has also become a beacon of self- limitation. This is simply because its expectations and aspirations are mostly based on beliefs engraved in stone or events of the past. Any ideas, thoughts, and views in contrast with these beliefs and conclusions would be abnormal.
With this realization, the dawn of self-expression is finally here. The walls can no longer hold back the beauty of creation and its mystery. Nature’s order of ensuring that every next-generation rises to the next level of consciousness is undeniable. It is now up to the generation itself to wake up to this reality and take on the evolutionary task for not only its own benefit but even for the generations to come. It should, however, be understood that this task has nothing to do with destroying or riddance of the old but to create a new path. A path that leads to living life authentically, crazily, weirdly, and live out the gifts, inventions and expressions through imagination and natural artistry.
By Karlos TheGreat
E-mail: karlsimbumusic@gmail.com
OSHIMWENYO is published every Friday in the New Era newspaper with contributions from Karlos Naimwhaka.