“I didn’t want to be made over, and I didn’t want to be a balladeer. I tried wearing jeans and T-shirts, but I wasn’t really comfortable in my skin. Then Lady Gaga came out, and it woke me up again. I realized I didn’t have to worry about looking like a freak. I wanted to rock out! I like colors in my hair… I love dressing up. I’m more comfortable like that. I just want to combine art and music. It’s who I am.” -People
Category: Being Different
Lady Gaga
“I was a deep thinker and was spiritual and creative when I was very little. I would posture ideas to myself and those around me. Who am I? Who are we as humankind? Then I began channeling this into music, characters in school plays, poetry. Needless to say, at some point, lots of people found me peculiar. Weird was a word I heard a lot. Thus began my journey with bullying. Once I was thrown in a trash can by a group of boys shouting, ‘That’s where you belong!’ I had depression, anorexia, bulimia, anxiety, and masochistic tendencies that included scratching or cutting my arms with knives when I was in emotional distress. I still struggle with some of these things. My trauma history is extensive. I was repeatedly r**ed when I was nineteen. I grew up around alcoholism. Finally, I have at least figured out the through line of all the things I’ve been through. In every instance, there was an absence of kindness. It’s important to pause and think about what you’re doing, in case you might hurt someone. And by someone, that includes yourself. Don’t just respond with kindness, fill the empty with it.” -People
Amanda Gorman
“Having a speech impediment forced me to think creatively about the ways I was going to communicate onstage. It wasn’t enough to just rely on my orality. I had to siphon other instruments. So if I wasn’t pronouncing a word ‘correctly’ because of my speech impediment, people might be able to look at my hands and say, ‘Oh, she’s saying running because she’s making a motion with her index and middle fingers.” -ALLURE
Angelina Jolie
“If you can make friends with people from all different backgrounds, you learn how uniquely special all people are.” -People
Billie Eilish
“When I was growing up and I was around my group of friends back then and they would all be drinking and smoking and doing drugs and whatever. I think because of the way that my personality is I’m a very strong-willed person, and I think at the time I was very alpha. I’m coming to realize that I may have felt a feeling of superiority.” -Vanity Fair
Awkwafina
“What made me process it, and what made the emotions flood, was watching Bambi. And seeing his mom. It almost was like it was showing me a kid’s version of a life lesson that I needed to learn but that not a lot of people could teach me at the time. It’s weird working out an Asian identity, especially when you are half Korean, half Chinese. You don’t feel often of either. You feel American. And then you search for them, I think.” Lost her mother at age four. – ALLURE
Snoh Aalegra
“There were times when I didn’t always feel comfortable in my own skin. Since I’m Iranian, I didn’t look like the other kids. Blonde with blue eyes which sometimes made me wish I looked like them.” She talks about growing up in Sweden. -InSTYLE
Jenna Ortega
“I am so fearful of disappointing the people in my life, or even people in public. I want to live up to people’s expectations, which is something that I need to get over, but I’m also scared that, I don’t know, maybe someone will get to know me too well and realize that I’m not all that.” -ELLE
Pressley Hosbach
“You were put on this planet for a reason and it wasn’t to compare yourself to others. Everyone has their own pace and path.” -GL
Dove Cameron
“When I was younger, the idea of being a role model made me so painfully self-aware. I couldn’t explore who I was because I was so focused on being everyone’s idea of me. But I decided to give myself permission to be human. You go through fire, and you come out different but alive. I’ve gone through so many things, but I’m so much less afraid of life because of them. I cut my hair like a boy and pretended to be a vampire while the other girls wore Juicy Couture and perfume. I was a loner. My capacity for happiness is much greater because of the traumas. I know that my time here is finite and it’s all about love.” -People