freak flag

We've all got one. And they're not small like the kind you wave in the air during a parade. Freak flags are beach-towel big. 

When it comes to our freak flags, we only have two choices: Fly it or fold it up and try to hide it . . . on our person.

Freak flags can't be stuffed into drawers, shoved under sofa cushions, or kept in the trunk of our car. They go where we go.

We can try to fold it up and stick it under our jacket or up our pant leg, but it's not very comfortable. They're big and itchy and hot. I'm pretty sure that's why there are so many angry people – their flags are riding up. 

No matter how good we are at folding, flattening, and concealing who we are our flags, everyone knows that we're hiding one somewhere. I mean, c'mon, it's the size of beach towel! The bottom line is that it's hard not to notice us when we're working so hard to conceal our vulnerabilitiy flag.

The truth? No one is "normal" and we're all someone's "other." 

In a world where we're constantly comparing and judging and shaming, I find so much peace in knowing that the one thing that we share in common is our flag. Our freak flag.

What do you think? Fly or fold?

Flag courtesy of Artist/Designer/Illustrator Nick Nelson