Outside the Box, One Toe At a Time

We've been told, since the very moment we could comprehend language and formulate cohesive statements, to think outside the box. We are supposed to look beyond the obvious and see the deeper layers. Many proverbs, fortune cookie messages, and clichéd phrases, have been devoted to just such a notion. The only problem is that this seemingly prophetic message is far too ambiguous for its own good. Which box are they talking about? Is it a big box? What color is it? What's in the box and who put it there?

There are so many rules and standards forced upon us from the instant we make our ascent into society's rigors. They are pushing and pulling us into conformity, supposedly for our own good. Countering that push, however, with just as much force, is the idea that we are to ignore the rules and break the traditional roles that were set in quasi-cemented language by people who knew nothing of the progress that we were to make. We are to force our way out of the boxes society placed us in, shatter the glass ceiling, break the moulds, and dance, march, or sing to the beat of our own percussion section. Clearly, individuality is a little more difficult than they first explained.

Those who dare to defy the societal norms dictated by the geniuses at American Eagle, Abercrombie, and Cosmo, are seemingly few in numbers. Those who challenge the sanctity of TRL trends and Orange County fashion laws appear to be the most daring of us all. But, of course, they too are given the incredible encumbrance of a stereotype. They defy the colorful mandates of Benetton by wearing the anti-color, black. They listen to music that screams of anguish, pain, and abandonment. They wear chains and talk of death and all things ill-fated, yet they, too, travel in packs, similar to the cliques that they speak out against so vehemently.

Inevitably, the conclusion stands that even the rebels and the individuals stand with those most like them, which leads to us to wonder how to define normality. Who decided the standards that determine who and what is normal? Most likely, the same people who put us in that impenetrable box when we were young.

One thing that those who push you to scratch, claw, and fight your way out of the box fail to mention is that it does not come in one easy swoop. Progress takes time. "You have to walk before you run," I believe is a popular phrase. While we may think that we have burst through the lid of that suffocating box, it takes a lot more effort to actually get your feet onto solid ground. Now that we have a little fresh air, thanks to the now-lidless box, the next step is to get a toe down on the ground. Which toe in particular is up to the individual, but progress comes in baby steps.