Like Nobody Else

From the movie P.S. I Love You

"Find that thing that makes you like nobody else."

I love that line.

Makes me think of birds.

Yes, birds.

Embracing my bird fascination started with my grandma, yes,

but also this that I wrote a couple years back:

Grandma Marj had a unique appreciation for birds that became a natural part of my heart as well.  Growing up next door, affection for birds seemed like a normal part of life.  It never occurred to me until I went to elementary school that it was odd to call a bird by its proper name.  After all, a black capped chick-a-dee was not a nuthatch, nor was a slate junco an evening grosbeak.  Furthermore, to call it simply a bird was to disregard its unique identity.  A bird has a name after all.  The name was an intricate aspect of the masterpiece that each bird was.

A name.  A unique identity.

We all have a unique identity.

And things that make us like nobody else.

We are not the same.

And that

is

good.

The thing that makes you and me like nobody else . . .

some people will

like it,

some will love it,

some will need it,

some will ignore it,

some will think it is foolish,

some will not even see it.

But what others think of it

is not as important

as being true to who each of us is made to be.

Even if those we want

to

notice

and those we want

to

celebrate with

are not interested.

It is ok.  It may not be for them.

And that is ok.

And it does not mean we should stop

being what makes us like nobody else.

If I waited for everyone

I loved

to see and embrace and encourage

me to

write,

create,

photograph,

and to put it all together . . .

I never would have started.

And it is nobody else's responsibility

to find, to see, to embrace, to encourage, or to live

the thing

that makes me like nobody else.

The thing

that gives joy

to my heart

like nobody else.

It is for me

to be,

to live,

even

if

others

think it is weird or foolish.

"Find that thing that makes you like nobody else."

And embrace it.

Be it.

Live it.

*

This was a sneak peek into my studio for this week.

I have been taking these photos of birds

through the windows of my home.

See what others are creating in their "studios" here

at Jennifer's blog:

Studio JRU.

All photos in this blog are property of Jodene Shaw.

Copyright 2011.