Not your average twenty year old

I am not your average twenty year old, and I'm okay with that. In this day and age, it can be hard to accept the fact that you're different and that you don't fit the mould of what society thinks you should be. According to the norms, I should be out drinking heavily each night, I should have a boyfriend by now and well, I shouldn't be the way I am....

I'm Mollie, a twenty year old girl who lives by the seaside. I've moved house twelve times, and I've moved school around eleven times. I'm curvy, I'm not slim, I've never had a boyfriend and I'll take a night in knitting and reading over a night out partying any day. I'm different and guess what, that's okay.

I'm not average, and I don't want to be average. Some people are okay with being average and that's also okay, but personally, it's not for me and I doubt it ever will be.

I've never been your average anything, but at school this was pretty hard to maintain and uphold. At school, it's difficult to express yourself – you're constantly reminded of what you should be like, and how you should be acting, and how you should present yourself – this is why school fucks us over and fucks with our heads. At school I was torn between being authentic to myself, and altering myself to fit in – the results? Well for around four years I didn't have a clue what I wanted. I took two years out of school due to health reasons (I had gallstones), and this is when I found myself, and I mean truly found myself. I didn't mean to find myself, but I kind of did (things like love, finding yourself and other stuff comes to us in weird and mysterious ways.. just go with the flow and an abundance of good things will come your way). 

So, it was 2013 and I had found myself – I was fifteen and at first I didn't know exactly what I wanted, but as the year progressed, I moved house twice, and then I kind of landed. I landed into the world of writing, blogging and acting older than I was because I was mainly socialising with family members, and not really anybody who was my own age.

I would say that in many ways, blogging has helped me find myself. Blogging has allowed me to express myself, build my confidence and do exactly what I want. When you're blogging, and when you're an influencer/blogger – you're your own person, you learn not to worry about what other people think and you kind of end up having no social life because content creating is what you end up spending most of your time doing. Blogging has really moulded me into the person I am today – it's made me value my time more. Why would I want to spend the whole day drinking or partying, when I could be writing articles, styling outfits, working on my blog and building my future so it's brighter than bright? Why would I want to spend £20 a night in the pub three nights a week, when I could buy nice clothing or something that brings me joy like books, wool or some blog photo props? Blogging has moulded me into the person I am today, and I'm forever grateful that my way of thinking is the way in which it is – because I personally, wouldn't want it any other way.

I'm not average, and I don't want to be average. Some people are okay with being average and that's also okay, but personally, it's not for me and I doubt it ever will be. If you don't want to 'settle' for average, don't – this is your life and you need to live it how you want, don't listen to what anybody else thinks or wants – do what you want and be who you truly are. 

If you take anything away from reading this article, please take away that it's more than okay to be YOU. Unapologetically and whole-heartedly you. If you're not society's 'norm' or 'beauty ideal' THEN THAT'S OKAY and if you are then that's also fine (if you're truly being true to yourself). I think authenticity and knowing who you are as a person is difficult, hard, but oh so rewarding and amazing. It's the thing we all need to do in life. Some may find it harder than others, some will find themselves earlier in life and some later in life – just be true to you in the moment and always do whatever makes you happy.

Please be you, and please don't worry about what anybody thinks. Fitting in is hard, so DON'T – stand out instead. Shiner brighter than ever before, and shine bright for you and only you. Please don't dim your light to be somebody that you're not – shine bright for you, and shine bright throughout your entire life. 

Outfit details: Dress: Blue Vanilla // Sunglasses: VOW // Bag: The Leather Satchel Company (dedicated blog post coming soon) // Sandals: eBay // Earrings: New Look