Square peg, round hole.

Different is good.

What do people actually mean when they say that? That you're weird? Definitely different? A bit odd? A misfit? In a good way? Or a bad way? It's a phrase that people use to generally state that someone doesn't exactly fit in. But how do you feel if you are the one on the receiving end of such phrase?

Well...I take it as a compliment. I haven't taken it any other way since it was first said to me in an interview years ago. Working in the creative industry I've always felt at home and I would assume that there are plenty of square peg, round hole personality types in my world, so why should I stand out any more than the others. I thrive on being surrounded by them, working with them, meeting them and learning from them.

I was actually described as a square peg in a round hole by a Creative Director in a rather successful Glasgow advertising agency. (They don't exist any more but shall still remain nameless). I didn't take offence at it. I was more offended he saw me like that when surely as a CD that's what he would have been used to in this business. It stuck with me for years and I actually thought fondly of it now and again. I still do. And I definitely took it as a compliment. I don't want to be the type that fits in to everything and everyone else's ideals. I want to be a bit weird, strange, different, creative, experimental and whatever else springs to mind, whenever I feel like it.

That's not to say us square pegs can't be consistent or reliable. Because we can. But we can also be unpredictable and that's the beauty of working in the creative industry and coming up with ideas for our clients. It's about enjoying inspiration and creating an end result that comes from our random thought processes and experience.

"Why can't you just be normal?" is something I've heard far too often throughout my life. I used to wonder that too. A lot. But now I am actually glad I'm "not normal". I don't think I would have experienced half of what I've done if I'd tried to fit in. I could have tried to find a group of Square Pegs and that would have been me set for life. But, alas, I've revelled in meeting fellow square pegs along my chosen career path. It's brilliant when someone just 'gets you' and you don't even need to try that hard. Those people are few and far between and a pleasure to come across. I welcome them with open arms.

So the moral of the story? C'mon the Square Pegs! How boring would life be if we all fitted in...