We didn’t fit into the places we were told we were supposed to. Still, we tried to squish ourselves into round places even though it hurt our square sides. All the while hoping, dreaming, one day for breakthrough...
Oh Keeley 💛 this one got me good. All the years I never knew I was a square peg. I thought the pain was normal. But I know that I’m much muchier than I would have been without it.
What a great story. When I was growing up (“Daddy did they have TV when you were alive?” was a questioned asked by one of my children a while back, which will give you some idea of how long ago that was) we played a game called Misfits in which you could combine the headgear, face, torso, legs and feet of different character types, professions and individuals to make funny odd ones. Professionally I always felt as if I had wandered off the Misfit page and was missing some essential part (the hat probably) of the role I was supposed to be playing and that everyone knew it. Later as I found back to the thing that I should have been doing from the start, I realised that what I thought was a pointless detour and a waste of precious lifetime was in fact the journey, waiting all the time for me to make sense of it. So as I was howling at the moon in frustration, the answer was in the misfit tedness all the time. This is the Square Peg dilemma you have captured so well. What did T.S.Eliot write? “We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time. “ But we will be much much muchier for having explored in the first place.
Oh wow, I love this so much! (Lol, TV remark.) That Misfits game is an absolutely *brilliant* example... I'd love to hear more about your story. Have you ever written about it? I've felt just like that too, like everyone could see it but me. And if I could just find that hat...I'd be "normal" and maybe not feel such an ache to pursue square things. But we were just square pegs all along. So wonderful to connect with you. And that quote got me. Thank you for your words.
I love being a square peg..... I’ve always been a bit square and have always kind of loved it! A bit more secretly secret at times.... my refusal to conform, question and posh back has come with its challenges and let’s say awkward moments but No regrets! Yay me, yay us...... I have written and accepted my own invite to the ball.. ps can also touch type and love this secret superpower 🦸♀️
Oh Hayley that's so lovely to hear. 💗 So wonderful you've always embraced and loved your squareness. I do love being a square peg too...I think it's just we've all had such different experiences. Maybe it depends what kind of 'shapes' we hang around? I always felt like I was meant to be a part of something I could never reach and just didn't belong where I was and it was a bit exhausting trying to explain it or justify it to the round pegs who seemed to fit in effortlessly where they were, and were always trying to tell me how wrong I was. Sounds a bit 'Little Mermaid-y' doesn't it. 🙈
I love this Keeley, I loved to write from a young age. I once had a story read out in assembly and I can still remember the feeling it gave me. I squished myself into a normal job for 25 years, hoping that someone might one day tell me I was doing it right. Only when my mentor said that my spirit was literally dying did I get the kick I needed to set myself free. I don’t see any of it as wasted though, I bring all of those skills I learnt to the table, touch typing included! 🙏💫
My Grandmother said something similar to me when I was a child and it’s only decades later after a mildly successful career where writing was only a dabble - that I am learning to truly come home to my creative center. Cheers to Square Pegs and those in our lives that see the gifts we are meant to live.
Here's to being muchier! This post rings true and hits home for so many of us. The deeper, inner knowing of what's truly important for our soul is the compass to move forward, whether it's our full-time gig or something we do on the side to honor ourselves.
It took me a long time to learn to be content with being a square peg. The pain of trying to conform lasted a long time. I gave a few people a few splinters, I can tell you! Now, I revel in my square-pegness, and if the round hole is big enough, I can still fit in and rattle around for a while.
Yes! Square pegs rejoice! 🤩
Yes. Clink! x
Oh Keeley 💛 this one got me good. All the years I never knew I was a square peg. I thought the pain was normal. But I know that I’m much muchier than I would have been without it.
💛💛
What a great story. When I was growing up (“Daddy did they have TV when you were alive?” was a questioned asked by one of my children a while back, which will give you some idea of how long ago that was) we played a game called Misfits in which you could combine the headgear, face, torso, legs and feet of different character types, professions and individuals to make funny odd ones. Professionally I always felt as if I had wandered off the Misfit page and was missing some essential part (the hat probably) of the role I was supposed to be playing and that everyone knew it. Later as I found back to the thing that I should have been doing from the start, I realised that what I thought was a pointless detour and a waste of precious lifetime was in fact the journey, waiting all the time for me to make sense of it. So as I was howling at the moon in frustration, the answer was in the misfit tedness all the time. This is the Square Peg dilemma you have captured so well. What did T.S.Eliot write? “We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time. “ But we will be much much muchier for having explored in the first place.
Oh wow, I love this so much! (Lol, TV remark.) That Misfits game is an absolutely *brilliant* example... I'd love to hear more about your story. Have you ever written about it? I've felt just like that too, like everyone could see it but me. And if I could just find that hat...I'd be "normal" and maybe not feel such an ache to pursue square things. But we were just square pegs all along. So wonderful to connect with you. And that quote got me. Thank you for your words.
Thank you Keeley. At the risk of breaching Substack etiquette I would refer you to my own page here on the platform and the About Section as well as the pinned post "What matters to me" along with this one which was an early attempt to make sense of the journey which you may enjoy: https://open.substack.com/pub/goodandprosper/p/we-must-know-as-much-as-possible-in-our-beautiful-art-yours-and-mine-what-we-are-talking-about-and-the-only-way-to-know-is-to-have-lived-and-loved-and-cursed-and-floundered-and-enjoyed-and-suffered?r=21olc&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Looking forward to following your output and your square peg adventures...Steven
I love being a square peg..... I’ve always been a bit square and have always kind of loved it! A bit more secretly secret at times.... my refusal to conform, question and posh back has come with its challenges and let’s say awkward moments but No regrets! Yay me, yay us...... I have written and accepted my own invite to the ball.. ps can also touch type and love this secret superpower 🦸♀️
Oh Hayley that's so lovely to hear. 💗 So wonderful you've always embraced and loved your squareness. I do love being a square peg too...I think it's just we've all had such different experiences. Maybe it depends what kind of 'shapes' we hang around? I always felt like I was meant to be a part of something I could never reach and just didn't belong where I was and it was a bit exhausting trying to explain it or justify it to the round pegs who seemed to fit in effortlessly where they were, and were always trying to tell me how wrong I was. Sounds a bit 'Little Mermaid-y' doesn't it. 🙈
I love this Keeley, I loved to write from a young age. I once had a story read out in assembly and I can still remember the feeling it gave me. I squished myself into a normal job for 25 years, hoping that someone might one day tell me I was doing it right. Only when my mentor said that my spirit was literally dying did I get the kick I needed to set myself free. I don’t see any of it as wasted though, I bring all of those skills I learnt to the table, touch typing included! 🙏💫
So happy to be alive in the age of square pegs! 🥳
Lovely, Keeley.
My Grandmother said something similar to me when I was a child and it’s only decades later after a mildly successful career where writing was only a dabble - that I am learning to truly come home to my creative center. Cheers to Square Pegs and those in our lives that see the gifts we are meant to live.
Great post! I can’t help but note that my previous post was a “square peg” post as well (albeit from a religious angle: https://joshwoodtx.substack.com/p/a-post-of-encouragement-for-the-challenged). Your words are much more eloquent than mine. Thanks for sharing.
Here's to being muchier! This post rings true and hits home for so many of us. The deeper, inner knowing of what's truly important for our soul is the compass to move forward, whether it's our full-time gig or something we do on the side to honor ourselves.
Love this, thank you. You are so right. It's a great time to be a square peg, and we have never been more needed.
Amen to the square pegs and to being much muchier!! 🥂
It took me a long time to learn to be content with being a square peg. The pain of trying to conform lasted a long time. I gave a few people a few splinters, I can tell you! Now, I revel in my square-pegness, and if the round hole is big enough, I can still fit in and rattle around for a while.
Love this Keeley, square pegs need not fret - there is much adventure to be had in our squareness.
❤️ it! and in equal measure ❤️ being a square peg. But I don't want to tell my round peg friends to rack off 🥺 Maybe they are secret square pegs too 🥷
Round pegs are *always* invited. The age of the square peg doesn't exclude them, they get to party with us.
This resonates so much