The Consistency Challenge: For Those Who Don’t Stay the Same For Long.

Some of us find it difficult to invest in one path. Some of us find it difficult to do the same stuff over and over again. And some of us struggle with both.

I was that girl who once proudly saw the world as a park that she could explore whenever and however she wanted and paint the sky using her own colours, in her own time.
But along the way, I somehow managed to half swallow and choke on the popular notion that this fluidity would be the cause of my demise.

As I wandered deeper into the streets of adulthood and caught sight of the sidewalks of expectations (both personal and professional) that came with, I began to consider that this inconsistency thing might be causing more trouble than I could afford and that, in order to survive the streets of adulthood I was going to have to toughen up and get to grips with that consistency stuff that everybody else seemed to have nailed so casually.

I became quite painfully sensitive to the frustration of those around me who couldn’t quite pin me down or at least predict my next leap. Even now, I still feel the discomfort of family members who wish I would stick with one particular thing – preferably something that can easily be explained nice and neatly over dinner.

I resented being dubbed as ‘the flighty one’ who would skip cities and get on a plane at the drop of a hat. I hated the rhetorical questions: “But that’s not really linked to what I saw you doing last year is it?” or “Didn’t you say you’d never do something like that?”

But at the same time, a part of me felt guilty. And in truth, that part also felt a teeny bit scared. I was afraid that they might actually be right, and that this fidgeting was going to lead to a sticky place - and that until I could walk in a straight line, I probably just shouldn’t move much!

In my mind, the less I did, (or the less I outwardly broadcasted) the easier it would be to have time to do my thing in peace and grant other people with the gift of my predictability while I continued to experiment quietly. But the stiller I became the more I realised I was further from knowing what that ‘thing’ was and if that ‘thing’ was ever going to be as monolithic as society had convinced me that it needed it to be. (But thankfully, I know now that it’s not. Just to clear up that myth!)

Anyway, every time I’d attempt to walk that straight line, I’d lose feeling in both of my legs. And I’d see a sign that reminded me of the bottom line. The bottom line being that people change. And in the words of Lauryn Hill “If it ain’t growing, its dead”.

Yes, I shift extremely quickly at times, constantly keeping my eyes open on the evolutionary path and not afraid to let go if I feel that its not the one I should be walking.

But here’s the flip side...
Consistency has been my kryptonite.
And I could employ every artistic cell in my body to paint pictures of this weakness as simply ‘just a quirk’ and explain it away with the product of these creative justifications. But I know better than that. And I know that our weakness is our hidden power base when we’re ready to face it head on.

In short: Consistency might turn out to be pretty fucking important for me.

But then here’s the flip side of the flip side...
Consistency is often sold to us as something that’s based on repetition of the same or similar things. When in truth, the only thing consistency asks of us is that we simply keep dancing to the rhythm. It just asks us to keep moving. Even if those around us feel uncomfortable by the variation of the dance.

The irony is, I know that in a year’s time, or even a week’s time – It’s not guaranteed that I’ll totally agree with everything I’ve just written. But I agree with it now. So this is still an important part of my dance.

P.S — If you haven’t watched the video already – get clicking!

https://youtu.be/9wjAlvd4mhk