Ed Sheeran: Being Weird Is a Wonderful Thing

Ed Sheeran: Embrace Who You Are

Famous musician Ed Sheeran shares his childhood experience to encourage all outsiders to stop being ashamed of their uniqueness, and to embrace their differences instead.

Credit:

Source: American Institute for Stuttering

Music: Like Dust In Flames - Keolya

Transcript:

"I was a very, very, very weird child. Very weird child. I had a port-wine stain birthmark on my face that I got lasered off when I was very young. One day they forgot to put the anesthetic on, then ever since then I had a stutter, and I also had very, very big blue NHS glasses.

"The thing that I found most difficult about it was knowing what to say, but not really being able to express it in the right way. I did different speech therapies and stuff, which wasn't very successful at a young age, and got very, very into rap music. My dad bought me the Marshall Mathers LP when I was 9 years old not knowing what was on it, and let me listen to it. I learned every word of it back-to-front. It helped me get rid of the stutter. Stuttering is not a thing you have to be worried about at all, and even if you have quirks and weirdness, you shouldn't be worried about that. Just be yourself, because there's no one in the world that can be a better you than you, and if you try to be the cool kid from class, you'll end up being very boring.

"Be yourself, embrace your quirks. Being weird is a wonderful thing. Don't ever treat it as an issue and don't see it as a plight on your life. Carry on pushing forward and ... I did all right, you can do all right as well. That's all, thank you."