I’ve always been a bit on the ‘special’ side, since as far back as I can remember. And by ‘special’ I do mean ‘special’!
My sister and I fondly call ourselves dorks on a regular basis, and wear the label proudly. Heck, I’m surprised we don’t have special t-shirts made by now that we wear in public.
With afore mentioned pride.
And brightly colored too!
I’m not certain just where I got this silly side to me, but I’m grateful for it. It allows me to see the fun and humor in almost any situation (even if it takes awhile!) and it feeds my streak of independence and contrariness voraciously… a bit like throwing fish slop in with sharks.
And my independent, contrary streaks are what have gotten me where I am today, with a healthy dose of ‘dork’ and ‘special’ thrown in for good measure. Oh and a little help from a proverbial red metal Louisville Slugger.
See, these days I call myself a writer.
But it wasn’t always so. I used to call myself a vacation home cleaner and that was totally WAY less fun and WAY less lucrative.
But as I said, I was silly, independent and contrary, and determined that there was a better way (at least for me) to make a living in this world and support my family. And I was convinced I could do it online and skyrocket from rags to riches.
Well, I achieved the better way part, the online part, and the supporting my family part… but the skyrocket from rags to riches is a work in progress!
Albeit a very determined work in progress… my independent streak just wouldn’t let me have it any other way.
But wait!
What do I mean exactly?
Being independent and contrary has gotten me where I am today?
Well… YES!
And so glad you asked!
OK, so remember how I said I’ve always been a bit ‘different’ from the rest of the kids in the class? I was different because my independent streak refused to let me be like everyone else around me. And Ms. Contrary backed up Ms. Independence with a baseball bat. A hefty red metal Louisville Slugger to be exact.
Think two imaginary twin chicks with short spiky hair, purple hot pants, and a beautiful red metal Louisville Slugger moving in unison one behind the other. Can you see it? Got the picture now?
When the ‘cool’ kids were dressing preppy and shopping at the mall, I was wearing black leather pants, rainbow toe socks, and shopping at thrift stores. I redefined ‘cool’ to fit me.
And when the ‘cool’ kids were partying and downing keggers after football games, I was sneaking into nightclubs and dancing my little heart out till the sun came up.
Of course, as I grew older my priorities changed. I had kids and started a family; I worked and went to school and did all the things I was supposed to do. But my independent and contrary streaks never left me. They stayed simmering just below the surface of my emotional psyche and constantly goaded me into finding that better way I mentioned.
Despite people telling me that working from home was a pipe dream. Despite being told that wanting to work from home was ‘lazy’. Despite being told that everything online was simply a scam.
Ms. Contrary and Ms. Independence were having none ‘o that!
So I kept reading, and learning, and searching for what I wasn’t exactly sure. But eventually I found it and it morphed into a snowballing freelance writing career that I am extremely proud of. And of course even more recently a blogging career that I can be proud of as well!
But I only found these things because of good ole Ms. Independence and good ole Ms. Contrary.
See neither of them has ever met a rule they didn’t live to break. And that’s exactly what they did my whole life long… broke rules and thought patterns and habits that were holding me back from where I wanted to be. You could say they were like rebel dreamers, refusing to back down.
- They wouldn’t let me accept that where I was at was where I would stay.
- They wouldn’t harbor any self-talk that said I couldn’t do what I wanted, whatever that was.
- They wouldn’t let me give up on my dreams of financial security and independence.
- They wouldn’t take no for an answer when I set a goal or harbored a plan.
- They wouldn’t listen when someone said they didn’t like what I had to offer.
- They wouldn’t harbor doubt about my talents or ability… Ms. Doubt was out on her ass!
- They wouldn’t give up when things got hard. And then they got harder.
- They just wouldn’t quit, no matter what.
Ms. Independence and Ms. Contrary have my back 150% and for that I’ll always be grateful. Now my questions for you are:
How are you breakin’ some rules? How are you achieving your goals, whatever they may be? How are you not backing down? I’d love to hear about it.
Warm regards,
AKA k0zm0zs0ul
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Hell-o Cori,
I used to be very unpopular in school as well, because I used to be very small and different as heck. It took me a few years to get that confidence back I once had, but now it's all over me because I fully embrace my weirdness. I want to make my writing style more over the top, my videos more passionate and create new business ideas.
Nice and personal story you got there – in the long run, it will always rule to be the independent spirit you set out to be.
Thanks hun!
Glad you enjoyed it. I think popularity in high school is
over-rated. lol Better to be yourself than do what everyone else does all
the time. I think you're going to do some pretty great things, and I'm
looking forward to seeing it play out. Nothing wrong with a little weird in
my book! Xo
Aww… Thanks Wilson! So glad you enjoyed the post, I hope you enjoy the
Thanks so much for commenting!
rest of BGB as well!
C
You are now officially being stalked!
How am I redefining myself? By not allowing myself to be mediocre and not let my voice (or dance moves) be heard. I seem to have this little gift that needs to be shared.
Although I was doing a decent job of sharing at my JOB, I needed to ramp it up to the www. So here I am now. I quit my day job over a year ago and haven't looked back since!
Ha.. awesome! I love being stalked. I think.
And that is awesome, way to
go on quitting the day job and going all entrepreneur on the world!
Don't you love it?
C
I do love it indeed!
I am the healthiest and happiest I have ever been in my life.
The coolest thing is finding out I have in some way inspired a handful of people to reach for the stars! That is such a humbling tingly feeling.
ps
I am most awesome stalker ever. justsaying…
LOL… you mean they have stalker ratings? Are there awards? I want one!
And yes, that is a great feeling, knowing you've inspired even just one
Congrats on all your success I'm sure more will follow!
or two people to do something they thought out of their reach before knowing
you.
C
Cori,
I have watched you from shaky, fawn-like, first baby steps in writing field, all the way to the savvy, edgy, sexy, shrewd and accomplished writer you are now.
I could not be more proud to call you my special friend, and anxiously look forward to the never-ending breakthroughs that have become so common place in your life as a remarkable, powerful, amazing woman and professional.
The house-cleaning world may have lost a disgruntled worker, but the rest of the world gained an inspiration that I have yet to see paralleled.
Nothing is ever, ever beyond our reach, because we create everything in our lives. You recognized this, and used this universal fact to get you where you are now, as did I when I was you age about 1,000,000 years ago
Big love to you
Ron
Ron Davies´s last [type] ..Eliminating Brand Blur by Social Media Expert Ron Davies
Aww.. now I’m blushing dorkus!
And you are so not a million years old. lol But thank you, I’m proud to call you friend too. Hopefully breakthroughs keep a comin’! 
Ultimately, we need to create our own rules. Can you imagine if everyone would abide by the rules that people in history placed for us? Monumental people break the rules all the time. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, The Google guys, etc.. These people have no respect for the status quo, for the rules. I’m sure we all have the feeling of setting up our own rules for our lives. I just don’t think all of us have the courage to do so. Perfectly understandable because following your own rules would mean going to the path untraveled, going out of your comfort zones. Not all of us I think is built this way. It’s up to you really.
Exactly.. you should check out Ash over at .. she epitomizes breaking the status quo.
{ 1 trackback }