About "my song" and the thoughts it evokes | club75

Sufjan Stevens may not be the most popular artist, but he is certainly one of the most unpredictable, original, and at times a bit surreal. This suits us very well - it would be difficult to define our life as mainstream. From the typical "plant a tree, build a house, have a son" we do not aspire to any task. We would like to replace it with "plant a permaculture garden, share the house with people in need, promote condoms" :)

For me, the song "Christmas Unicorn" is a celebration of differences, originality, and life the way we want. I see a message in it that we are all original like this unicorn, imperfect in its originality ("Oh, I'm a criminal pathology with a history of medical care; I'm a frantic shopper and a brave pill popper, and they say my kind are rare "). Most importantly, however, we all share these imperfections, even if some of us can hide them better than others ("you're a Christmas Unicorn, I have seen you on the beat; You may dress in the human uniform, child. .. But I know you're just like me; I'm the Christmas Unicorn; You're the Christmas Unicorn too ").

_{I'm sharing my song with the most important person in my life - Krzysiek, on the photo with me. The song is just a symbol, what is the most important is all the memories with that guy that it reminds me}

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Celebrating individualism vs old school cultural norms

You know, I grew up in a small town in Poland, in a family that cared very, very much about "what people said." I had worse clothes intended only for walking around the house and better for meeting people, only people who had made an appointment could visit me so that the house could be properly cleaned in advance. I have been taught not to say what I think, but only what is appropriate, I couldn't say too much about myself as well, just to keep the perfect picture of me in the heads of other people I didn't even care about ... there were so many little things that disturbed me in the values my parents tried to teach me. Some of them you may also know from your life.

_{With my brother. I'm the one with the Mickey Mouse blouse}

I'm not saying it was all bad. Sure - cultural norms are useful, but life has taught me that what was so important to the baby boomer generation is not necessarily worth duplicating blindly in the XXIst century. Even if you completely give up your own opinion and strip yourself of individualism, if you care about the comfort of everyone around you instead of your own, there will still be something that will make people disappointed. It is impossible to satisfy the whole world and honestly, there is no point in doing it if it results in a lack of satisfaction with your own life.

_{On the trip, in better clothes. I guess you understand what I mean}

Likewise, in other small points that I have mentioned, which were deadly important to the generation of my grandparents or even parents. Sure, keeping your home tidy and looking tidy is very much needed, but even more important is how you feel. If your close friends come to visit, and you have been working hard all day, nothing will happen if you leave a few unwashed dishes in the kitchen or an unmade bed in a bedroom which probably won't be visited anyway. Better to skip one or two responsibilities and enjoy the meeting instead of having a perfectly clean house but falling asleep in from of your friends from exhaustion. If you like a T-shirt that is already quite old, if it brings you good memories and you feel comfortable in it, nothing prevents you from going shopping in it. There is no need to pay attention to "what others say".

Let us be ourselves, let us be unique, let's celebrate our advantages, and let's not be ashamed of our own imperfections, after all, all people have some. Let's all be Christmas Unicorns.

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