these are not my people

Have you ever found yourself in a situation and you realize "These are not my people"? You are surrounded by people who you have nothing in common with and find yourself terribly out of place among them. I had this experience recently, and it made me reflect on all the other times I've felt this way. It occured to me I'm not really sure who my people actually are. I know who my closest friends are and I always feel comfortable around them, but what about everyone else? I think figuring out who your people are is a key step in figuring out who you are. Where do you feel most comfortable? Most importantly, where do you feel like you don't have to be someone you're not?

I once found myself feeling inadequate because I had nothing to add to a conversation about eating organically and participating in contra and African dance festivals. These girls seemed to look down on me because I'm not part of the Earth Child movement. As the day went on I realized I was feeling bad about myself because I felt uninteresting to these girls, but I had forgotten the plenty of people in my life who do find me interesting. I wasn't like them, and there was nothing wrong with that. I eat food from grocery stores and I occasionally eat fast food and I can't dance to save my life, but there are plenty of other good and interesting things about me.

In school I tried to make myself fit into the journalism crowd, and I quickly realized those weren't my people, but I also didn't always feel comfortable in my creative writing classes. I remember two creative writing classes where I liked and felt comfortable around the people in my class. Those are the classes I miss when I think back on college.
I think it's natural to want to fit in with a group of people. It's human nature to want that feeling of belonging and kinship. We just have to make sure we're trying to fit in with the right group and not trying to change ourselves to please other people. Be yourself and your people will find you.