Find.Your.Pack.

Dr. Bernie Siegel, CT's unique contribution to the world of healing, warned us in a seminar:  'Don't be afraid to be a character.  Be your authentic self, not the diseased kidney in room 525'.  One of my  take-aways from his four-part series was that conforming can be hazardous to your health. ( Visit Bernie's site at www.berniesiegelmd.com.  for further inspiration.)

Rex Huppke, in his Hartford Courant column I Just Work Here, advised "Go ahead -- be weird at work." (7/23/12)  He cited Seth Godin, author of "We Are All Weird" as one  expert who also warns that conformity can hold you back at work.  Always saying and doing what you think other people want does not help companies grow.

John Gardner, renowned educator and policy-maker, famously warned that 'we must guard against bureaucracies becoming prisoners of their own procedures.' I think of it as infrastructure arthritis.

So, with a plethora of thought-leaders giving us permission to 'be who we are' -- how do we survive the slings and arrows that gatekeepers use to keep things the way they are?  No one says it is easy to fight the current of conventional thinking,  but we do want to get to the other side in one piece.  One mantra is that 'confidence comes from experience - and experience comes from know-how.'  So know of what you speak.

Building on Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes' book, Women Who Run the Wolves, I say find your pack.  Even if you can swim like a duck, but are really a swan, you need to move on.  If you are 25 and earning great money but are being held captive in a cubicle guarded by a scolding witch, explore your options, but know that you must move on.  If you are a late-blooming social worker who needs clinical hours to complete your certification, but are confined to pseudo-professional tasks, move on.  Share your goals with trusted souls and move on.   Life is short.  Respectfully request that others move to the side as you kick a door open to your best work.