I like pistachios.

I like dreaming.

I’d rather run than walk.

I enjoy my own company.

I love laughing, especially with friends.

I love to think.

And sometimes, I love to wander alone.

The list could go on forever—quirks, preferences, oddities, tiny joys. Maybe you relate to a few. Or perhaps you’re the complete opposite. Maybe you hate pistachios, think running is a punishment, and can’t imagine enjoying an entire afternoon in your own company. That’s okay.

Actually, it’s more than okay—it’s beautiful.

We’ve been exploring the topic of wholeness. Embracing who YOU are is a key part of walking in your inherent wholeness.

Where Did You Learn to Hide Yourself?

Somewhere along the road of growing up, you maybe were quietly taught—or sometimes explicitly told—that liking different things was weird, and being too different was wrong. You were encouraged to color inside the lines. To be more like them, less like you and to choose safer dreams, quieter preferences, more acceptable versions of your own joy.

It starts early. A comment here, a disapproving glance there. A teacher who tells you your artwork is “too messy.” A friend who laughs when you say you like old jazz or sci-fi or walking barefoot in the grass. A family member who lovingly (but firmly) reminds you to be “realistic.”

So you start to edit. You shave off parts of yourself to fit in.

But here’s the truth: No one was born to fit in perfectly. You were born to be fully, wildly, and unashamedly you.

Like What You Like—It’s That Simple

Maybe you are spending a strange amount of time explaining (or defending) why you’re different. Why you eat your pizza with a fork. Why you hate horror movies. Why you’d rather journal on a Friday night than go out. But, what if you stopped needing to justify every preference, every impulse, every joy?

What if liking what you like didn’t have to be explained?

Here’s something wild to consider: There are over eight billion people on this planet. And out of all of them, not one single person has the same fingerprint as you. Not one. It’s as if the very design of your body is screaming, “You were made to be different.”

So, why do you think you’re supposed to like the same things, chase the same dreams, or blend into the same roles as everyone else?

The problem isn’t that you’re different. The problem is that somewhere along the way, you started believing you weren’t supposed to be.

Living Fully You

I don’t like liver.

Maybe you love it.

Does that make me wrong? Or are you wrong? Or is anyone wrong?

No. It makes us human.

Your taste buds are yours. So is your heart and your path.

If you love the stillness of early mornings, perfect. If you feel most alive in loud rooms full of people and music, amazing. If you dream of building a tiny cabin in the woods, go for it. If your joy looks like skyscrapers and high heels and 12-hour days building your business—do it with everything you’ve got.

Because here’s the thing: You do not have to explain your flavor of joy. You just have to live it.

What If It’s Not for Them?

Let me say this clearly: Your dreams, your tastes, your lifestyle—it doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else.

It doesn’t need to fit in a box, or come with a five-year plan, or be proven with market data or approval from your mom.

What matters is that it fits you.

Has anyone ever told you your dreams were too “big?” They meant it as a warning, but take it as a sign that you are on the right track. Because the world doesn’t need more realists telling you to shrink. It needs more idealists who believe in magic, beauty, art, justice, and hope.

So go ahead. Be a little “too much.” Eat mussels instead of steak. Study philosophy instead of finance. Take long walks alone just because it clears your head. Laugh too loud. Paint badly. Build things that no one understands yet.

Just don’t stop being you.

When the World Tries to Rewrite You

It will happen. People will try to shape you, bend you, soften you into someone more comfortable for them. But every time you bend away from your truest self, you lose a little something—something divine.

What if instead of bending, you stood?

What if, instead of changing your taste, you trusted it?

What if your weirdness is your wisdom?

What if the very thing that makes you different is the thing the world needs most from you?

Because here’s what I’ve come to believe: The world doesn’t need more polished perfection. It needs more realism. More raw. More of you as you are—uncut, unfiltered, fully awake.

As Long As It Doesn’t Hurt…

I always say: if it doesn’t hurt you or anyone else, and it brings your soul joy—go for it.

Run instead of walking. Nap in the middle of the day. Start over at 40. Take salsa lessons. Write poetry. Stay single. Get married. Go back to school. Move across the country. Be loud. Be quiet. Be whatever makes your insides light up.

The world will offer you templates—ready-made lives in pretty packages. You don’t have to take them.

You can build your own.

You can be your own.

And you can eat your little freaking heart out while doing it.

Your Permission Slip

Let this post be your reminder and your permission slip: You are not too much, too different, too late, too anything.

You are a walking miracle with a fingerprint unlike anyone else. Your job isn’t to blend in. It’s to show up—with every strange preference, every specific craving, every dream that still feels a little wild and a little out of reach.

And when someone side-eyes your love for pistachios or jazz or paint-by-number kits or hiking at sunrise? Smile.

Then go do it anyway.

Eat what you love. Dream what you dream. Chase what lights you up.

You’re allowed.

You were made to be this person.

So, don’t water down your flavor. Don’t try to wear someone else’s fingerprints.

Be you. All of you.

Pay it Forward:

Share this post with someone who needs to remember the beauty in their authenticity.