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How is the Unusual More the Usual Than the Unusual?
Who decides usual from unusual, anyhow?
I have never been called normal. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Being unusual is my usual.
As a kid, I was different from those around me on many levels — both physically and emotionally. As a teen, because of where I grew up, I was a good head shorter than most of the other boys my age. Unusual tended to be an apt descriptor for me.
Like most teens and twenty-somethings, I made multiple attempts to be “normal”. But that meant I wasn’t being me. And nobody can be wholly disingenuous about themselves without paying a price.
Mostly, you get lost and confused about who, what, how, and why you are.
Being yourself can also come with a price. Not being “normal”, or doing the expected, or not fitting in with everyone else can create some disconnects both tangible and intangible.
The irony to this is that, I believe, trying to not be unusual is the cause of a great deal of unnecessary stress on people. What’s more — even defining the “usual” versus “unusual” reveals that there is no One True Way.
My point, in all of this, is that embracing what makes you unusual is an excellent way to be less stressed, face toward positivity rather than…
