Tag Archives: Jennet Liaw

Ordinary World

ordinary_people_drib_7
(Graphics by jennetliaw.com)
 
You may recognize this title from a song by Duran, Duran. After all, it was one of their popular hits from, gasp!…the nineteen-nineties.

Ordinary, you say?

I think not.

What is ordinary anyway?

When we think of ordinary, we might cringe at the thought with a sense of commonness, of something unremarkable, average, dull, boring or even predictable.

Ordinary? Who me?

Never!

Who of us wants to be predictable?

I mean, don’t we all like to think of ourselves as extraordinary?

You know, strange, odd, unusual, bizarre, or weird.

Oh wait, that’s the wrong definition! Ha, ha, ha!

No. We want to be exceptional, amazing, astonishing—

Special!

But what makes us so special that we don’t want to be ordinary?

It’s when we start to think of ordinary as a bad thing.

Because it really isn’t.

We all start out being ordinary.

However, what makes us feel as though being ordinary means that we’re not good enough?

Is it the fear of not being special?

Perhaps. But more than likely it’s the world that we live in. It’s the influence from society to always do better, be better, to never ever settle.

But there are holes in that ideology. For one, the recognition we seek could lead to discontentment if we put too much emphasis on fame, which has lead many to feel unhappy with what they’ve accomplished.

This of course has had a negative affect. For some, belief in the ordinary has instilled a fear of limitation and weakness. And it’s simply not true. It only feels true because we’re taught not to settle, like it’s a disease, as if we’ve been caught standing in a quagmire of mediocrity.

Except, I don’t think so.

Sometimes we need to catch our breathe. Sometimes we just need to be.

To be ordinary.

And what’s wrong with that?

What’s wrong with being satisfied? What’s wrong with being content and grateful for everything we’ve achieved?

We could be happier. Our days could be calm, filled with an inner peace instead of a crippling, unquenchable desire to be extraordinarily special.

there-is-beauty-in-the-ordinary
(Photo by blissfulanddomestic.com)
 
Remember what Duran Duran said:

“But I won’t cry for yesterday
There’s an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find.

And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive.”

Yes, we will survive.

We will survive whether we are ordinary or extraordinary.

It doesn’t really matter.

What matters is that we’re happy. Happy with ourselves. Happy with our family. Happy with our friends, our faith, our work.

Happy.

Because we’re all ordinary people.

Doing extraordinary things.

In a not so ordinary world.
 

So what do you think? How do you feel about being ordinary? Do you feel pressured to be more than you are? Do you feel it’s possible to reach a level of satisfaction from what you’ve achieved? If not, what do you think it will take in order to feel content and happy? And what is your favorite Duran Duran song?
 
Cheers everyone! I hope that life is treating you well. And as always, thank you so much for all your support and wonderful comments!
Karen

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