The Out Crowd...

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,

I don't know how else to describe it. At this stage in my life, I would much rather think that there is no in or out crowd and that social groups are designed around common interests rather than any sort of shallow interpretation of ones personality. But I must say that we have to leave room for the socially obscure and out of he ordinary.....

But aren't all common interests obscure to those that don't share them?

I know that you can see where I am going with this. Last night I found myself in a basement with some of my closest friends, all dressed elegantly to relive the prom that we never enjoyed. This was no ballroom polluted with penguin suits and Dillard's dresses, but rather a small gathering of people expressing their inner classiness on their own terms. A purple haze cast across the room as the black light met the disco ball, and the keg ran all night. There was dancing, photography, and even a little romance. This "Prom" night was all that many of us probably wished our prom would have been. As I came to think about it this morning, I thought of what people would have thought had they randomly stumbled upon our little gathering, walking into a basement full of oddly dressed young adults, intoxicated by the moment. Whether they would have joined the party or considered it uninteresting is not important. Whats important is that It doesn't matter what they would have thought. This moment for us was beautiful, no matter how out of place or obscure its nature was.

The night preceding the prom was also quite the eye opener. I rolled my bicycle down Central to Downtown with a group of bike friends. We were met with hundreds of cars, all headed in one direction like spawning salmon. They were obviously very entertained by 7 guys riding there bicycles down the heavily trafficed street as they proceeded to honk and shout, both good and bad things. To many of these drivers, both on this night and any time, we as cyclist are part of some kind of "counter culture". For those of you who know me, I do not only mean this about fixed gear riders, but urban cyclist in general (whether you ride a hybrid, road, mountain, or fixed gear bike). But the reality of it is that to us, we are doing something completely normal and familier to us, just as driving is to them.

This brings me to my point. We are all the out crowd to somebody. There is always going to be someone that is going to look at you, your group of friends, or even your family, and say "you are weird as fuck!" as you may do the same to them. But I call everyone to action today! Embrace your out crowd! Be bold! Stand out! No matter they way that you choose to do these things, just do them, because you will find yourself in a much happier place when you embrace all of these things!

Peace,

Jacob In Real Life....

PS: Always feel free to share experiences via comments and emails! And Special thanks to all of my great friends that inspired this one! Prom Night was killer as was Anodyne!