December 8th, 2010 | 7 comments | Skydiving

In true social media fashion, I decided to crowdsource this post. I asked a handful of people who know me best for their opinion on today’s prompt:

Beautifully Different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful. (Author: Karen Walrond)

This is a long post. Seriously – you don’t have to read it. But I think it’s neat to let the other people do the talking, since oftentimes, we see ourselves in a different light (for better or for worse) than the people who know us best. What’s also interesting is that the people I asked, my boyfriend, family, skydiving friends, blogger buddies and a couple of mentors, all said roughly the same thing. So, there’s some consistency.

For those of you who want the answers without the explanations: I’m brutally honest*, fearless**, wicked awesome in the kitchen***, and apparently, I’m pretty in tune with myself****. That about sums up what makes me different.

What makes you beautifully different?

For the rest of you, the word straight from the sources:

*From my boyfriend: “I would say your unabashed honesty and clarity…what you see is what you get, you are what you are…no apologies needed. Love you!”

*From my best skydiving friend slash life twin, Ashley: “Here’s what makes me love you: A) that you tell it how it is. You’re the one friend when I really need someone to tell me what I’m being an idiot, will do just that. 2) you put your heart and soul into everything you do. You don’t half ass life. D) You’re unconventional: for one, you’re crowdsourcing this, which rocks my socks, and hello, you skydive – that has the ability to make anyone beautiful.”

**From my sister: “I think what makes you different is that you have this super ability to achieve things you set your mind to. If you decide you want something you don’t care what it takes- you’ll get it. You’re also not afraid to be a total loser. You can be a dork in all company and don’t care what people think!”

**From my father: “The sparkle in your eyes has always set you apart from others.  That’s the first thing that comes to mind. You, like your sister, have the ability to dream and make your dreams come true and that is about as beautiful as it gets.

Still, that’s really hard to explain to others who don’t get it.  Try this. Imagine waking up on Christmas morning and seeing a pile of presents under the tree, but never opening them. Not a single one. Imagine that your someone, friends or family,  spent a lot of money on you, buying you things you need and want but could never afford.

Now imagine that you even know what was inside those packages, but just decided to let them sit under the tree day in and day out, year after year. After all, now you have what you’ve always dreamed of. You own whatever is in those boxes. If anyone asked, you’d say, “Yes, I have that.” But it wouldn’t do you any good because you would never be able to use those gifts unless you took the time to unwrap those packages.

What sets you apart, the beautiful thing, is that by dreaming, imagining and working hard you open those packages and have access to all the wonderful things inside. You know that you should “do unto others” and don’t run over people, have class about the way you run your life (for the most part) and as a result, good things come your way.  That’s pretty dang beautiful I’d say.”

***From my roommate Nathan from Chicago: “The first thing I think of with you is an unreal passion for good food and making good shit. Beyond that, I think what makes you different is your ability to just do stuff without hesitation. For example, a lot of people say they’re going to do something and don’t do it. You did the skydiving thing. You have a blog. You went out and taught yourself how to make sushi (which was awesome for me). But the point is you decide you want to do something and just do it, you don’t worry much about what you cannot do. And I think that goes roundabout with the cooking thing cuz you would always just try out different and often difficult dishes, but you tried without worrying about totally fucking it up. There’s an idea for a blog for you: Living Without Fear of Failure.”

****From my mentor-of-the-year, Aaron:

• Your sense of humor
• Unbridled enthusiasm
• Passion for food and for social media
• Your snark
• Willingness to engage others

****From my super-hero sidekick, Alan:

Here are five things that I think make you you:

• Enthusiasm
• Depth of caring about what truly matters
• Challenging yourself to understand what truly matters for you
• Respecting those who deserve respect by action, not title
• Willingness to leap off the cliff. You take the jump, even if you’re nervous to do it. Sometimes, I envy that. And I don’t think it’s just a youth thing.

****From one of the smartest women I’ve ever worked with in the history of working, Alecia:

• You are beautifully different because you speak your mind, damn the consequences.
• You care not whether others agree with you.
• You care not whether you fit into others’ pre-defined notions of who and what you are or should be.
• You are beautifully different because you honor your core sense of self. Always.
• You are beautifully different because you are authentic and genuine in a way that others can only dream of being.
• You are true to yourself and act according to that truth.

*From my favorite Asian and angry boss (not my angry boss, but ::a:: angry boss), Patrick: Hrmmm, if I were to make a list of what I think makes Sydney Owen beautiful and awesome in all senses of the words, they would be …

• … because Sydney cares but doesn’t care. She can and will be completely and utterly direct, unfiltered and candid about any subject and that makes it easier to solve problems
• … because Sydney is a riot.  No matter what the topic, she will make it funny.
• … because even though Sydney is a woman, she has balls and will let you know (see point 1)
• … because Sydney’s brain is like Atlanta Hartsfield airport, on crack.  There’s a lot of ideas stirring around in there, I hope none of them crash.
• … because Sydney is well-rounded and brings an exciting, wild, whacky, go – get that shit done – attitude
• … because Sydney is pragmatic, she knows what’s real and what’s not real (except for the jumping out of an airplane thing, no Syd, you can’t fly)

**From my “keep shit in check” sounding-board and uber-talented blogging-BFF, Becky Johns:

• You’re fearless.
• You left everything you knew in Florida to go chase an opportunity in Chicago, despite not knowing a ton of people when you moved or having any idea if it’s what you really wanted.
• You busted your ass at your job, got a promotion, and had the nerve to turn it down to make a professional transition because you knew you had to follow your heart in a different career direction.
• You relocated to Austin, essentially, totally starting over with a new life uprooting and all that comes along with that.
• You jump out of planes.
• You seek out opportunities you KNOW will challenge you. Public speaking. Events to meet new people. Guest writing for blogs and other pubs.
• You’re in a relationship that doesn’t make any sense from the outside. He’s a lot older, you’re in totally different places in your life professionally, you don’t follow the normal rules of relationships, you have no certainty that a month from now he’ll even live within driving distance, yet, you seem to be so content with the role its playing in your life and you’re not afraid to pursue it despite things that look like red flags to most people.
• You blog about your life unfiltered. Literally. You write things most people are afraid to admit, attach their name to, “ink” permanently on the interweb’s record of you.
• It’s beautifully different to be unafraid of things that terrify most people. I know there are things you’re afraid of, because everyone has something, but you don’t let “norms” define your path and that’s pretty cool.

What makes you beautifully different?

Tags: Reverb10