Swimming upstream.

I'm an iconoclast, a rebel, a square peg refusing to get stuffed in a round hole. Sometimes. In general, I like trends that go against the mainstream, if that makes any sense. I knit, I sew, I refuse to wear synthetics any more than I can get away from it. I whip up my own body products, and shun most conventional jobs. The day that my government-based health coverage accepts herbalists and direct-entry midwives for OB/GYN care into its networks will be a happy day for me, even though on that day, it will also snow in Hell. My unconventional life was considerably less complicated until I met someone who believes what the commercials tell him- and fell head over heels in lurrve.
Yes, I know, it's a real-life version of Dharma & Greg. I'm granola; he's grey flannel. Almost. In several ways, I'm more old-fashioned than he. It's as if he's now, and I'm somewhere between 200-150 years ago. Except for the staunch feminism part, and hey, how do you think we got to where we are, if it weren't for some hell-raising ancestresses?
So, while I wait the seemingly endless period for the lye to cool off enough to make soap with, I ponder the risks and benefits of blazing my own trail through life. It's flipping exhausting sometimes, requiring lots of reading, thinking, and fighting. Is it really all that bad to slip a pack of Dial into the shopping cart, call my assigned doctor when I need medical care, and tell myself that polyester is cheap and easy to care for? There are bigger battles than those that may yield only a clear complexion, fewer health problems, and sweating less, and perhaps I should pay more attention to those. It's really not all that bad to get some random job and work there until I have to move, or they fire me.
Or are the comparatively petty battles indicative of something greater? Is freedom diminished by the use of it for small goals? When I shun what's popular, am I being a snob, or am I rejecting the notion that conformity is made to be violated? When I swim upstream, am I simply being obstinate, or am I becoming a stronger swimmer, and showing those not contented with their journey a new way?