Mismatched shoes? Who does that?
Lady Gaga does. She’s such a rebel when it comes to fashion. And her music. And just about everything else she takes on – from causes to tributes.
When you have confidence in yourself and the statement you want to make to the world, why not be outrageous? Wear patriotic mismatched shoes, red glitter eye shadow, blue glitter nail polish and a red glitter suit. It’s the art of being yourself, which can be an act of rebellion. Why not press the buttons of society’s fashionistas and make them scream.
Justus Appleyard, the teen protagonist in my Young Adult novel, Rebels from Olympus, creates and draws his own comic book series, Captain Fortis. His fearless superhero battles local environmental criminals who pollute and pillage the land. His major archvillain is a three-headed monster called the B.U.G., who looks almost too similar to a band of three bullies he deals daily with in school. Yeah, he uses his art to process the conflicts in his life – in true rebel style.
His younger, thirteen year-old sister, Rosa, is a precocious fashion designer. She has an invisible friend, Mini, who began teaching her how to design and sew unusual fashions since she was four years old. Luckily, their mother supports Rosa and indulges her creative spark.
Rosa has the drive to take her ideas from her surroundings and make them her own in designs that are her unique translations of how she interprets her experiences. At the beginning of the novel, we first meet her in the Appleyard’s living room, wearing one of the couch’s pillows on her head, which she had re-interpreted and fashioned into a hat. It was a fashion fail, but she keeps striving throughout the story to take her world and manipulate it into her own rebellious way of seeing it . . . and wearing it.
Being original in your own thinking and brining it out into the world through a rebellious act of art is transformative. For you, and the world around you. You can alter the way people think when they experience your creation: a pretty dress; a thought-altering comic book; a video game that’s different from the norm; a healthy meal you’ve cooked; a poem; a newly-invented contact game. It’s endless.
I dare you to create daily. Being a rebel is you being uniquely you.
Ever since three rebellious gods moved in next door, life has never been the same for Justus. His mom plays Twister with a goddess. The secret love of his life kisses him. His evil step-grandmother tries to kill him.
Sandy Milczarek 