This interview with Rick Genest (aka Rico the Zombie) by Avant/Garde Diaries is a pretty moving short that takes you into the mind of a performing artist whose trade (and looks) make him stand apart from all that’s normal. Looks can indeed be deceiving in Rick’s case (his words show his true personality), as his decision to embrace this lifestyle is based upon the most age-old of dilemmas: mortality. What do you do when you’re faced with your own demise? How do you embrace who you are and what you want from your life when it’s not long enough? If your life doesn’t give you the same time that most others expect, then how should you live it?
All of these thoughts go on in each and every one of us, every day. And yet, it’s only at those extreme times that we choose to embrace honesty without worrying about the repercussions. In a society that is all about judgment, this is the most powerful and courageous thing that any one can do. Embrace difference. See how it changes your perspective of the world around you. And see if it just maybe opens up your mind to the unexpectedness of those differences in ways that you’ve never even dreamed of.
You must be the change you want to see in the world. – Mahatma Gandhi
Would you be courageous enough to stand up against expectations and embrace difference, if it held the possibility of improving the world around us? Think past the surface and swim into the depths…
