Some of us hit this plane recognizing ourselves as square pegs in a sea of round holes. 
Or at least I did. Anyone else know the feeling?
As children, there’s this underlying sense that no matter where we are, or how hard we try, the spaces we’re in were not made to fit us. With that, comes an intimate attunement to the entitlement of a society, whose very design seems to be filing our edges and convincing us to enjoy forcing their fit.
For some, it’s a constant battle not to crumple beneath the burden of forced isolation. For others, their square is an armor protecting them from the blissful ignorance of those comfortably grounded in round holes.
It takes time, real time, to figure out that having little interest in sanding ourselves into ways that make us fit – is a superpower.
It’s taken my lifetime to truly recognize the beauty in the common recognition of other. To be clear, it doesn’t feel beautiful to be other-ed. But the isolation? The forced mismatched out of place feeling paves a perfect pathway to the sanctitude of self. Being force fed your own separateness offers a diversion from conforming to outside expectations to aligning with the truth of your own path. And here’s the kicker: We all have something that squares us, that thing that sets us apart.
So what if – stay with me here – the square peg energy is a kind of trial by fire preparation for living a life of true alignment? What if the mismatch of that energy is actually The Call to live in truth, freedom, and with the fortitude to blaze our own trails (because yeah, we survived a square peg childhood).
One – This can be our mission if we choose to accept it. And two – what does accepting it look like?
My favorite quote from Einstein goes like this, “Genius is making complex ideas simple, not making simple ideas complex.”
Because, who am I to argue with Einstein (?) I put this into practice often. That means we simplify.
Ground in your truth. I say this with the firm assumption that our truths do not adversely affect others. With that in mind, grounding is the practice of consciously connecting with the present moment and to our inner selves. It is the action of stillness and focused quiet that brings us back to our core.
We can do this though meditation, connecting with nature, breath-work, journaling, the ocean if you can find it, a bath and any other practice offering that zen. Grounding is essential to maintaining clarity around our sense of self, authentic desires and values. This is where we begin the business of connecting with our authenticity.
Once we re-familiarize with the self, stand firm there. If grounding helps us reacquaint, anchoring stands us unapologetically in the light of who we are. It is the courage to say, “This is me,” in the face of fear, judgement and possible rejection. Here is where we begin to see that we don’t have to hack away at ourselves to fit into boxes, but rather, we create the space where we belong and see who comes to join us.
This is where the magic happens.
When we fire up the light of who we are, it shines into the world like a beacon. We attract our tribe whilst simultaneously allowing those who don’t align with our authentic selves to fall away. We suddenly draw in the people who resonate with our energy, values and vision for life. These are the people who will see, appreciate and connect with us like no other because they not only see exactly who we are – but they love it. They love us. What we are, who we are. And just by standing in the light of our being, you can be the call that brings someone home. Maybe even gives someone that sense of home.
This is the path of the square peg.
It is in recognizing that true love’s kiss, comes from our own lips.
We, the mismatched band of bedraggled who are in a constant state of clawing at the dirt on our own surface to find a peace we stumbled into discovering, lies within our own hearts. We know in ways that if you don’t have to know, you won’t – that the truest acceptance in this plane is in surrendering to the essence of our own being. It’s in trusting that being when it drives us to surrender to something greater.
The square peg path looks like teen rebellion but bears the monks embrace of silent solitude. It is the mosh pit in which we learn to remain unmoved in spite of the chaos driving everything around us. Sometimes even inside of us. It is in letting go of should and could and breathing in the vitality of is.
For us.
Because we deserve to have our own peace and as a collective it is imperative that we help one another find it. That is the raising of a collective consciousness toward a vibrational harmony that’s universal. When one of us is out of alignment what is we cannot truly align. So we begin together, here. To align.
A coworker-friend once blinked his surprise and said, “You’re an anarchist, Amy.”
I prefer the term nonconformist. Free thinker. Spiritualist. And I stand firm on this path. I, my friends, am a square peg.
This is who I am.
Who are you?
Love,
A
