Life is too short . . . .

I'm a sucker for paintings with bright, vibrant colors. Many of these are paintings of fantasy scenes--fairies, dragons, that sort of thing--but I love them.

I also love flowers, especially roses. I love paintings of flowers, too.

A lot of the music I like is the same sort of thing teenaged girls listen to. Or did listen to, five years ago.

There was a time when I wouldn't admit any of the above, especially to myself, because I thought it showed I have questionable taste, or it was unmanly. I used to have a friend who would go berserk if I admitted any of the above within his hearing.

Now, I simply don't care. I've stopped pretending to care about stuff simply because it's popular, and I've also stopped denying that I do care about stuff that other people say they don't like.

Life is too short to listen to music I hate or just find boring just because it's what everyone else is listening to. Life is too short to read a book I don't care for because everyone else is reading it. Life is too short to watch a movie I don't want to see because everyone else is watching it.

So, I'm cultivating a familiarity with fashion design, something I've always been curious about. I'm listening to music I like, regardless of the fact that I'm probably the only straight male my age listening to it, and nobody else within a mile radius will admit to liking it. I read the books I want to read, and I don't give a shit if I'm probably the only person who is reading it.

Try it. Admit to yourself what you like to read, listen to, watch, or whatever. Quit caring if anybody else on earth likes it. If you like it, that's all that matters. Though promise me you'll do the opposite, too, and allow others to like stuff you don't care for, without questioning their coolness or sanity or taste level. It has to work both ways.

Amazing how much richer and more enjoyable life becomes when  you do that.