I is for Ignore Convention

Here is the next verse in my "ABC's for Aging Artfully". If you have been following this blog, you know that I am stitching this piece by Lizzie Kate and while doing so, giving some input on my thoughts about the verse I am on. Here is a pic of the start of Ignore Convention:

Ignore Convention or better put, Defy Convention. This has taken some thought and some research, including talking to folks who know me.

I think the poem "When I am old I shall wear purple" describes me best.

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in the slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practise a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

I think my whole life I have been "wearing purple". I have always walked a line between what society said I should do and what I wanted to do. Sometimes I crossed that line. Actually many times. But not so far over the line that I was "peculiar". I was just, well, me.
And I think that ignoring convention means also just thinking outside the box. For instance, when I started my Stitching for a Cure blog, I was thinking of a different way to fundraise for Relay For Life and for a way to include other stitchers who wanted a way to participate, but didn't know how. Thinking outside the box turned out to be a great winner for Relay.

Here is a list of some folks who ignored convention and were successful in doing so:

Guy Laliberte - reinvented the circus, making a leap from street entertainer to CEO (Cirque Du Soleil)
Coco Chanel changed the way women dress and re-defined the suntan
Ferruccio Lamborghini transformed his farm machinery company to a become a challenger brand to Ferrari
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greefield's uncompromising idealism meant a $4000 loan was all it took for Ben & Jerry's to become global players
Les Paul made the first usable, saleable electric guitar
Picasso new approach is of course another obvious example.

Countless people defy convention every day,and change the world.
So ignore convention every once in awhile and see if you can change the world in some way. I bet you will at least change your world!
Now where is my big red hat? I have earned it.