Ever since I was a little girl, I have always been seen as different in one particular way from the rest of my family. Unlike the rest, I live life by going with the flow and don’t have every detail of my life planned out like my brother and parents do. 

It has been a running joke between my family and I for as long as I can remember. My mother often laughs to herself and wonders how her own daughter could end up so different from the rest of them. When asked any question that holds regard to some sort of planning ahead, my answer is always the same: I don’t know. It’s the truth, I truly don’t know what I want in any given scenario, whether it be as small as what I feel like eating for dinner that night or as important as what I think my future holds. 

I don’t usually feel stressed when it comes to my lack of “caring” as some may see it, but in random, unpredictable times, I will feel so overwhelmed with the lack of uncertainty that I am facing. How could I not care about something everyone else seems to care about so deeply? Am I in the wrong for not planning for something everyone else seems to? Is it only me who is seen to “not care” about anything? Questions flood my brain at these irregular times and fill me with uncertainty and unanswered questions. 

However, I don’t think that fitting into the “go-with-the-flow” stereotype should be seen by people as bad in any way. To me, it just proves that we are all different from one another and experience things in all kinds of ways. One could even argue that the people who fit into this mold live life by living in the moment and soaking in all of what life has to offer instead of capturing every moment on a camera and not truly enjoying memories as they are experienced.

Living this way also does not define one’s ability to care deeply about everything around them. Instead, I think it just proves to others that we believe in a plan and that everything happens in our lives for a reason. According to social worker Molly Muniz, people who portray these traits are commonly seen as “the [people] who make everyone feel like somebody.” 

Personally, I am able to find a purpose and comfort through trusting a process and accepting whatever life may throw at me, but to others, that may just be me fitting into the archetype of someone that “goes-with-the-flow,” and this shouldn’t be seen by others as so bad.