Being Indie: Indie Appreciation Week

Celebrate your individuality and love your independence.

My Dearest Devotees,

I love being myself. I am independent, and to me this means that I am independent thinker. I form my own opinions and I do not mass think. I try to make sure that never follow the crowd blindly or accept information without questioning its source. It also means that I am quite adventurous and curious about the world. I always want to know the why behind everything. Knowing the why behind things helps me makes informed decisions. To me, being independent also means that I love to explore. Trying out new things and travelling to new places is almost constantly on my mind, and meeting new people is par for the course.

When I was younger, I couldn’t wait for the day I would go away to university, and this was because I looked at it as a huge adventure. It was never something I feared and distance from home was never a factor. Now that I’m here I still don’t feel differently. Some days I wake up and can’t still believe where I am and how far I’ve come. When I catch myself doing “grown-up things” like paying the bills and making doctors appointments I still wonder the time has gone. When I came to university I never really felt homesick. I missed my family and friends, but being able to do my own thing sits really well with me. I’m the kind of person that likes to dance to my own drum and be my own person. Since coming to the blogosphere (almost a year ago now!) I’ve met so many lovely and wonderfully unique people that are beautifully independent and strong in their own ways, and I’ve decided I would to make this week “ Indie Appreciation Week”. I know that there has been a subculture built around being ‘indie’ with particular things to identify but I feel this is against the whole point of being independent. Therefore, the list below is what being independent means to me.

Doing yoga to de- stress

Making my own decisions about my faith and actively taking part in it.

Making my own decisions about all sorts of topics- big and small.

Owning my personal style.

Wearing loads of chiffon and billowy shirts.

Taking loads of seemingly random classes (but not really) that challenge me and make me think.

Reading tons of non-fiction and fiction books.

Getting on top of things by being organized in my random and sporadic nature so that I can do all I want to do.

Being comfortable in my relationships with people.

Standing up for what I believe in .

Living in beautiful floral prints.

Wearing flowers in my hair.

Essentially emulating gyspy style and making it mine.

Buying a fabulous leather trunk – vintage or antique

Go vintage/flea market, etc shopping to get unique pieces for my room

Finding out about tarot cards.

Learning widely different styles of dance- I’m taking ballroom and hip hop this summer.

Wearing lots of lovely, lovely vests.

Having an owl- a snowy one like Hedwig.

Hanging ethnic printed carpets and fabrics around the room e.g. wrapping a TV in jewel toned sarong and (false) peacock feathers.

Wearing loads of beautifully colored scarves

Enjoying fabulous poetry

Learning to ride a horse

Travelling as much as possible by plane, train or road

Chemically developing my black and white photos with my vintage Canon SLR camera.

Always seeking to experience different cultures.

Reading loads and loads of books on different cultures and about people that are different from you

Meditate upon every topic under the sun.

Wear loads of gold colored jewelry.

Trying out loads of crafts: knitting, basket weaving, jewelry making, etc.

Trying out loads of art forms: painting, designing, drawing, etc

Dancing with abandon but to the beat and with rhythm in my room and in wide, open fields.

Listening to folksy, vocal and instrumentally dominant music. Think Iron and Wine, and Furlough but also to any kind of music that takes my fancy and speaks to my soul.

Recording my music and putting them on CDs.

Visit parks and open fields. Keep in touch with nature.

Learning to control my range vocally and to play piano.

Being open to different culture and the possibility of learning new languages.

(All photos from: We Heart it)

Love you all and Stay Inspired,

P.S. So let me know what you think. What does being independent mean to you and how do you celebrate your independence? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.