Accept That You're Just Weird

Fringe Normal

I had been telling myself that I was only engaging in these activities to the extent that they were useful, but unlike those other crazies who were more involved, I was pretty normal.

Well, after running my first barefoot race and a few incidences of me flailing like a madman through the forest, I’ve had to accept that I finally crossed over into truly odd.

And now that I have accepted this fact about myself, I feel much more at ease.

You see, I had been holding back my oddities. I kept having the urge to take the next step in my stranger hobbies, but I worried that if I did, then I’d be really crossing the line, and after all, I was still a normal person who didn’t do those things.

Well, after accepting that I’m just one of those strange people, it has been a lot easier to be strange in public. Which of course means that I can practice my weird hobbies with more gusto.

Universal Weirdness

I think that everyone is secretly pretty weird. We might have a strange sense of humor, unusual interests or hobbies (needlepoint-loving football players, eg), or a devotion to niche movie genres. Very often we hold back, only revealing these aspects of ourselves to our trusted confidants. But how much more free would be feel if we could be comfortable with our weirdness all the time? Or even be proud of it?

Normal people freak me out. I met a normal person once. She did very well in school, was going into corporate business, was part of a sorority, enjoyed normal TV shows and had no fashion eccentricities. She also had an all-American boyfriend. She was always smiling and friendly. All of this was very creepy. I felt like I was talking with a robot most of the time. There was also a subtle undertone of low-grade stress, like keeping up the appearance of excellent normalcy was taking its toll.

So don’t even try to be normal! It’s stressful and bad for your health. Plus, you’ll have more fun if you just do the things you love and dress in your own, ‘unique’ style, as you are inclined.

Stay weird,

- (**