They say that “birds of a feather flock together!” Do you ever feel isolated from events? Do you ever feel that you might not fit in? And more so, how do you feel about that? Let’s take some time and dive into this topic just a little.

Let’s face it, it is a very odd picture seeing a flock of doves, and in the middle of them, you see a seagull. You think to yourself it’s a bird and yes, it’s similar in color however you know deep inside that the seagull just doesn’t fit in this picture. Now, let’s look at it from a nonbiased viewpoint. Maybe the Seagull had no other seagulls to be social with and maybe the seagull just wanted some social time because all lifeforms crave interaction. Even in nature, you can see times when it contradicts all social norms.

Sometimes we need to reject social norms to be happy or even fulfilled. We often find it hard to break defined social norms, even to the point of self-harming behaviors. We can feel and even become isolated from many things and people because of the overwhelming pressures that we might feel when we reject social norms. One thing for sure is that it is never easy to reject social norms.

Being able to observe the thoughts and behaviors that overcome each of us as we face dividing lines of our social norms, I find it interesting, that you can truly understand who you are at this very point in time.

So many people will go along with social norms just for the sense of comfort and security that they feel when the whole tribe is not looking and talking about them. It takes a person with strength and understanding of themselves to stand in the presence of adversity. It can make even the strongest people question themselves when faced with such a task.

History can show us just how powerful a group can be when overcome with a sense of entitlement from just the number of people within a group. To stand out and object to social norms has always been hard for people, discovering that it is easy to fall into a psychosis because of the lack of self-control or lack of understanding or the “go along to get along” mentality can be very detrimental in many ways.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that we need social norms in many ways to feel a sense of pride. However, we should always be able to call out the negative points of any social behavior. Now more than ever I feel a sense of urgency that we need to remember the dangers we face when we forget how important it is to recognize everyone for their individuality. Groupthink can be very dangerous, and some people recognize the power in a hive-like mind environment and will easily take advantage of this type of atmosphere.

Conclusion.

Social norms, as needed as they might be, can be very detrimental to a healthy society if we can’t accept that some social norms can never be one-size-fits-all. Learning to embrace the multiverse of cultures that you might not be a part of (or the fear of missing out.) can help us heal our ever-growing divides.