“Rebellion happens in the mind. You can’t create it, you just are that way”
-SLC Punk
This was me at 19. I was always doing things differently. I thought differently, deeper than most people would care to access or at least to admit. I accessed spirituality from a young age, I thought about the reason for life, why we are here, how there must be more to it than the superficial level most people live by. I expressed my feelings of difference through how I physically presented: crazy-coloured hair I dyed myself, studded cuffs, band patches, funky makeup, hardcore punk music. I was also a straight-A student, meanwhile helping my mom to raise my niece and financially supporting them during times where we couldn’t afford food or rent.
I made myself look like this to express creativity and ancillary to this, to challenge people’s perceptions. Walking around in public holding my four year old niece, people assumed some punk dropkick had gotten herself knocked up underage. For years until Shea got older I’d get terrible looks from strangers. There was so much judgement!
As I grew older I ditched the offbeat external appearance but still carry the very same mentality with me. Create. Express. Be silly. Think deeper. Communicate what is real. Challenge the norm. Challenge it because you instigate people to think, to open their mind and broaden their perception. I always try to teach the same principles in my yoga classes. I use crystals, I do reiki, I talk about the linkages of the spiritual and physical bodies. If I can can create a spark maybe a fire will emerge in the minds and hearts of my students.
Two lessons from my own experiences, in hindsight of my punk rock phase: Don’t judge a book by its cover. Please keep an open mind with others because appearance is just that, the shell. Care enough to want to access the deeper level before making an assessment. And do not ever, EVER be afraid or hold back from thinking differently. Be your own person, embrace yourself fully. Whatever that means for you.
