I read a sentence recently that brought a sudden stillness to my heart: "If you can't find your place in the crowd, your place is on the stage."

It’s not an encouragement to seek the limelight, but a reminder of a truth many are reluctant to admit. Some people feel like misfits not because they are "not good enough," but simply because they are standing in the wrong place.

We are taught from childhood to blend in, to be sociable, and to seek a sense of belonging. Consequently, when we feel out of place, our first instinct is self-scrutiny: Am I too picky? Too strange? Too sober? Do I lack social grace?

But I eventually realized that some discomfort doesn't stem from personality, it stems from misalignment. The more you understand the world, the fewer people will walk beside you. It's not about becoming "cold" or "aloof"; it’s because you begin to see more layers, while most are content to stay on the surface.

Naturally, we gradually walk out of the crowd.

This isn't about superiority; it is a structural loneliness.

Every gain in this world comes with its stakes and its price. Some choose the noise, the cost of which is depth. Some choose safety, the cost of which is freedom. Others choose to understand the world, and the cost is that few can keep them company. The real tragedy isn't paying the stakes, but paying them and then lacking the courage to claim the prize.

Some individuals have already endured the loneliness, the misunderstandings, and the lack of recognition, yet they still look back, trying to squeeze back into the crowd longing for a seat, a title, or just to be "counted in." In doing so, they lose both worlds.

The truth is, it’s not that we don’t have a place. It’s that we’ve been standing in one that was never ours to begin with.

Some people were never meant to sit in the audience. Your place is not among the crowd; it is in that space where you must stand forth on your own, where there are no guarantees, no pre-set applause.

That place is called the stage. Not because of the spotlight, but because there, you finally don't have to pretend you fit in with everyone else.



—— 🎐 XC Scribbles · 壹佰貳拾陸 CXXVI 🎭