“You all laugh because I am different. I laugh because you are all the same.”

When I saw this quote I thought about photographing a mini with horses. Although that would have worked, I felt lead to have the photograph include people. You all laugh because I am different. I laugh because you are all the same.

Many times it is uncomfortable to feel ‘different’ when in reality we are all unique…like it or not.

Sometimes being ‘different’ is a choice….like driving a mini to school to pick up your child in the car-line.

Other times being different is not wearing the ‘right’ clothes or saying the ‘right’ things when you are with people.

                                                            *

The more that I looked at the quote the more I realized that two words in it were problematic; ‘different’ and ‘laugh’.

In car line this day people were laughing…but it was good laughter, they were enjoying the differences.

Other times laughter is hurtful, aimed to make people feel unworthy.

                                                            *

I almost threw the whole photo and quote out by the time I was done analyzing it. Then I thought…why not explain my issues with it and enjoy reading your responses:)

43 Comments

  1. Karen on May 2, 2014 at 8:35 am

    Stacy what will you come up with next….love it ! This makes my day, you are wise beyond your years !

  2. Vicki on April 16, 2014 at 6:55 pm

    I know I am different! I am older, and I have 4 formerly wild mustang. I am different because I don’t have them to ride. I have gentled all 4, and now I see what I can get them to do on the ground. I have a riding ring which I have fondly named “The Playpen.” For my ponies and me, being different is awesome!

  3. Carolyn E Williams on April 16, 2014 at 11:24 am

    <3

  4. Christina on April 16, 2014 at 2:54 am

    What a wonderful thing to share! I remember one time I went through a drive in on horseback – this gave some positive laughter as well :o)
    I really admire people who dare to stand up and show who they are and be proud of it.

  5. Stefani on April 16, 2014 at 12:26 am

    I would bet you all the other kids were jealous! that is so cool.

  6. Miranda Jane on April 15, 2014 at 10:32 pm

    Also, people only seem normal until you get to know them. Everyone is different. That’s the magic of life. Laughter is healing. Love the photo!

  7. terryhronek on April 15, 2014 at 9:32 pm

    Had you picked up the kids from school in Dover today, you would have been different all right, since it snowed!! When I was 1 week away from getting my MBA, a professor came in and shut the door. She told us that even though we had achieved this degree, we knew we weren’t any smarter than anyone else, although people in business would believe we were, and hence be given more opportunities. It was very humbling for me since she was correct, and I learned to surround myself with good people, who regardless of their education, had “passion” for whatever they were doing. It taught me not to judge people by what they look like, or their orientation, or how they dress, but look beyond that for “passion”. And while making money is important, I find myself often times taking a step back and helping people who are having difficulties get their business up and running for free. It is just the right thing to do.
    when I attended your clinic on Friday, you told the audience that if they didn’t understand what you were trying to teach at the clinic or just had another question, stop by the booth. Something you didn’t have to do, but it showed your “passion” for horses, and your willingness to just help people. We are so lucky to have people like you and Jesse to help us. Thank you.

  8. Bobbie Kiser on April 15, 2014 at 8:36 pm

    It takes a strong person to be different. A lot of people would like to be, but they are scared people will laugh AT them.

  9. LadybugFarm on April 15, 2014 at 8:29 pm

    my mom used to pick me up from the bus stop with our ponies when i was little. i also went to school at a one room school house and rode my pony to school often! being different was actually the COOL thing then 😉

    p.s. i hope you have breeching for your harness! 😉

  10. Kara on April 15, 2014 at 7:37 pm

    When I was in kindergarden, my mom would ride her horse Sam to the school on Fridays and pick me up. I would have to climb on top of one of the big tractor tires that we could play on to get on behind my mom. We rode home through downtown Coeur d’Alene Idaho, out to the country where we lived. Some of the best memories of my life.

  11. ponyweaver on April 15, 2014 at 6:40 pm

    Glad you shared this. Gave me a happy smile. And what a beautiful bouquet all the difference can make.

  12. Ann Long Netzow on April 15, 2014 at 6:39 pm

    So glad you didn’t throw this out. Gave me a happy smile. And what a beautiful bouquet all the difference can make.

  13. Carol Wells on April 15, 2014 at 5:19 pm

    Stacy!!! You are so fun! I love that you would pick your kids up with the mini!!! They will never forget it either . . . You are instilling in them the same gift that you have been given by being different and making a difference just by being who you are!!!!! Thank you for sharing!!!!!!

  14. Cindy on April 15, 2014 at 4:38 pm

    People tend to put a negative spin on ‘different’ or ‘change’ when neither is good or bad depending in the situation. People point out differences because of their preconceptions we need to gut a mold. Not true, everyone is unique and beautiful in their own way. That’s what makes us all ‘special’.

  15. Marilyn Munzert on April 15, 2014 at 4:22 pm

    I LOVE this – just the kind of thing I have done all my life. I call it LEADERSHIP,because of the number of people who copy me.

  16. Rain on April 15, 2014 at 4:01 pm

    The second half of the quote is problematic because it suggests a feeling of superiority, that she’s somehow better than everyone else because she’s unique. Instead, why not say something about all of us being different in very different ways. It’s true.

    • Stacy on April 16, 2014 at 5:06 pm

      Yep, that was the line that I was concerned with after reading it over. I didn’t write the quote:)

  17. Judy Bank on April 15, 2014 at 3:59 pm

    Sometimes it’s best to give people the benefit of the doubt (as you do with your horses) when it comes to their behavior. If it appears to be mean-spirited, I often feel moved to try to sway them “towards the light”. Now that’s a challenge! But it can be very rewarding if it succeeds.

  18. Melinda Nicholson on April 15, 2014 at 3:28 pm

    I think it is probably more unkind to ‘laugh because you are all the same’. As you say, they ‘all’ wouldn’t be and this shows a lack of feeling and respect. Unless they were all bullies perhaps… this has reminded me of school days, I would have agreed more in those days I think, but now I am older and wiser and no longer think the same….

    • Stacy on April 16, 2014 at 5:06 pm

      Yep, that was the line that I was concerned with after reading it over.

  19. Katelyn on April 15, 2014 at 3:27 pm

    Look at how many people your “differences” have inspired. Being different from everyone else is a blessing. God made you, you for a reason. Enjoy the advantage :).

  20. Roseanne Coggan on April 15, 2014 at 3:17 pm

    I was raised to not to judge how a person looks and to look for someone’s inner beauty and that is how I make my friends and I wouldn’t trade my friends for anything.

  21. Pat LaCroix on April 15, 2014 at 3:06 pm

    Am glad you decided on posting this! But I understand your thought process…. I was always taught to “think before you speak, act or react”! A good motto my parents taught me to live by! Each of us is different… just as there are no two pebbles on the shore that are alike, no two trees in the forest are the same, not even two snowflakes or raindrops are the same! But it is how we “see” those differences — in ourselves or in others, that makes the big difference. We can embrace how we look, we can hate it, wish we were like someone else totally. But at the end of the day, we are still that SAME person. When I was a kid, I always wished I was someone prettier, smarter, taller, speedier, someone with straight hair…etc. But I now realize at my age, I wouldn’t really have wanted to be anyone else than just —–PLAIN OLE ME!!!

  22. Connie C on April 15, 2014 at 2:48 pm

    That’s always been one of my favourite quotes. I (now that I’m older and have lived thru a lot) love being different than other people. Most times people don’t quite know how to take me. I love it and love waiting to see how they react to my over bubbly, terminally happy, buggy, enthusiastic self. Its fun. Kind of a game I play with myself…….and I laugh!
    Thank you Stacey, I think you are great and enjoy your blog. We met at a few shows years ago. I always thought you were wonderful.
    Many blessings♥

  23. Nancy Charest on April 15, 2014 at 2:19 pm

    LOL. I would love seeing a Mom picking up her kid from school in a carriage with a mini. My horse, on the other hand would not. We as people often stop to appreciate the different but our horses are hardwired to see different as dangerous.

  24. Lisa on April 15, 2014 at 2:07 pm

    Different is good.

  25. Jennifer Martin on April 15, 2014 at 2:02 pm

    Why laugh at each other at all? We are all different. Laugh at yourself (with joy or pleasure) when you are different and are brave enough to enjoy it. What others think really doesn’t matter all that much. Enjoy life. It is short enough as it is. Embrace how God made each of us unique!

  26. Suzi Sturgell on April 15, 2014 at 1:56 pm

    One thing I liked about my dad, was that he always encouraged me to be different. He being a photographer for the City of Denver, we (he, his wife and I) were invited to an elite opening of an art exhibit show in downtown Denver, CO. I was 18,this was back around 1981. Always the cowgirl, I dressed up in my finest western wear, hat, boots, nice western shirt… my dad wore his boots and a cordoroy dress jacket and his wife wore a pretty dress as usual. When we arrived, everyone there was dressed in their finest suits and dresses, drinking wine and talking quietly in small groups. While walking through we were greeted so many times with smiles and nods of not so much “approval” but more like in “marval.” I just thought I looked nice, lol! Finally a group approached us and asked if we were part of the Denver Stock Show Rodeo that was in town at the same time! hahaha! (I wish!!) I found it to be the highest of compliments, whether all the pretty people thought so or not!!
    Being different is often more fun and adventurous than being the one who fits right in. To this day, I am my own person, and most people appreciate that about me, and I in them.
    BTW, I see nothing wrong with picking your kids up with a mini and buggy! Most often, “we” laugh because we are uncomfortable 😉

  27. Keira on April 15, 2014 at 1:54 pm

    Glad you shared Stacy! Nice to be able to think outside the box and BE different!
    Keira

  28. Leslie on April 15, 2014 at 1:26 pm

    Wonderful! I noticed a while back that when my kids saw something “different” they refered to it as “weird”. We looked up the definition of weird . Just because someone is different doesn’t mean they are weird, their lives have just taken them down another road another way. IF you realize not everyone is the same, take a step back, you will learn valuable lessons.. Celebrate our differences.

  29. Jenny Jaggers on April 15, 2014 at 1:17 pm

    I love it!!!!!! We all have troubles maybe not the same ones but still troubles.

  30. Joanne on April 15, 2014 at 1:14 pm

    Yes we all are different in the way we think,look, act & treat others. Some of us take our uniqueness & embrace it in every way. Some of us compare ourselves to others as we lack self confidence. So we have to laugh @ somebody who is bigger then us as to us the norm is to be thin to be beautiful. Wrong beauty comes from within. Some of us use our high end vocabulary to make ourselves sound better then everyone else even though no one knows what you are saying except to those in the same field as you.Some of us our just quiet & shy & seemed to be well liked by all as we have compassion for all & our great listeners who try to see the good in all. Are you different in a good way or do you try to be something you are not just to stand out.Be Happy & love who you are as you are unique but never at the expense of another.

    JO

    • Heidi on April 15, 2014 at 4:35 pm

      People should embrace their differences and be able to have a sense of humor. If we were all the same, the world would be a boring place. I strive to instill this theory in my children, hoping that by the time they are teens, they can make their own decisions and not feel the need to conform. I heard this saying a few years ago and it was very close to my heart, I love it because I’ve always been a little different and I feel that it’s empowered me in many ways. You need to realize your true self otherwise how else can you be happy?

  31. Sharon ryan on April 15, 2014 at 1:08 pm

    I love your post . If I was there I would love to take a ride in our beautiful buggy. I would wave at those who laugh at us shame on them. Keep up your good work and don’t let people get you down.

  32. Alexandra Delcourt on April 15, 2014 at 1:06 pm

    Stacy, that’s how I pick up my kids many a days! So, we’re the same a little bit 🙂 I appreciate the depth of your thoughts on the subject.

  33. sjewen on April 15, 2014 at 1:04 pm

    Stacy,
    This quote is very much about me. I have ADHD. I have endured many days where the laughter was hurtful and the differences between myself and the people around me were nearly palatable. Some days, I feel utterly broken and disfunctional. On good days, I can celebrate my differences as I teach my 2 boys (who also have ADHD) to work with, and utilize their differences, as tools to be worked with. I love the quote and will save it to use on a new blog I started about how ADHD fits into my life. Thank you. Horse and buggies welcome anytime at my place!

  34. GimmeADream on April 15, 2014 at 1:00 pm

    I’m fine with different and with driving you mini to pick your child up at school. Wished I’d been there to see it, though. It must have been so cute!

  35. Bonnie M. Butler on April 15, 2014 at 12:58 pm

    Loved the picture and the quote. Glad you posted it. Was refreshing…………

  36. Liseanne R on April 15, 2014 at 12:56 pm

    Wow that is awesome! I love it! Needed that today, Thanks Stacy!

  37. Dawn B. on April 15, 2014 at 12:54 pm

    Stacy, know that you pointing out what is universal is healing, sharing vulnerabilities is courage and the courtesies and kindness you offer is what the world is thirsty for… thank you 🙂

  38. Janet Sproles on April 15, 2014 at 12:35 pm

    43 years ago a horse romped on my face.Even after four years of plastic surgery I am way different.Different because being so teaches us how to treat others and when people stare,
    smile at them.That always wins.

  39. Simone on April 15, 2014 at 12:24 pm

    Stacy – you and the mini can pick me up anytime!

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