How often I have felt like the odd one out!  When I first came to Umbria over 43 years ago, quite simply… I was the odd one out – the only foreigner in my town who literally stuck out in every way.  I dressed, spoke, thought, ate and acted differently.  I was very noticeably different – truly the odd one out.

While not for the exact same reasons, I still feel very much the same way:  I reason, react and reflect in my own very particular way; my values, tastes, interests, viewpoints and opinions rarely seem aligned with others.  My hero, Thoreau, said it so well:   “If a man loses pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away.”

 I also encouraged my children, Mar and Michael, to find their own drummer and to march to the particular music they heard, to find their own beat and rythym.

Isn’t this the very essence of personal freedom?

Do you ever feel like the odd one out?  Does it make you feel unique, one of a kind and rather special?

I hope so!