I’ve been perfectly normal from the very start.

Sorry for the impromptu week off from writing. Last Tuesday I just forgot until it was about 12:20 Wednesday morning and on Sunday I got super lazy, so my apologies.

I was just looking through WordPress’s 365 Days of Writing Prompts for some ideas of what to write tonight. I really liked June 5th, “Tell us about a thing you’ll never write about.” I think that that is the silliest writing prompt I’ve ever heard. When I meet new people I think that I’ll start to ask them to talk to me about something they never want to talk about.

One of the other prompts was to talk about being normal and whether it’s a good or bad thing, or neither. I think that this is an important thing to talk about. Most people like being their own unique snowflake, but they also want to fit in with others. We want to be special without being considered weird. I’ve always wanted to do things bigger and better (although I’ve always struggled with the motivation to get those things done), I’ve wanted to be above average. One of the more important things I’ve realized in my life is that sometimes it’s okay to be average, or normal.

But I also really like saying that there’s no such thing as normal, and there’s really no such thing as weird. With seven billion other humans on the Earth, it shouldn’t be too hard to find people who are completely similar to you and others who are completely different. I think the only things that we can confidently say are normal are breathing, eating, and other life functions.

Sometimes it’s easy to get caught into that cycle of just wanting to please other people and be like them, despite the fact that doing what that takes can make you unhappy and exhaust you. On the other extreme we can feel the need to assert our independence and uniqueness, sometimes to the extent of hurting the people we love and care about. What’s really important is to do what makes you happy. Find people who love the things that you love and spend time with them, avoid people who criticize you and try to make you into someone you’re not. As long as the things you love don’t hurt other people, pursue them because you want to.

Don’t do things in life to be normal, or not normal. Do things to be happy. I’ve always liked this quote:
            “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and              those who matter don’t mind.”
              ― Bernard M. Baruch

To step back down from the lofty hills of optimism and fantasy, it’s important to remember that sometimes there are people in our lives who we are stuck with. Family members will have different views than us, and will often state those views, sometimes out of concern for our well being, and other times because they feel the need to be superior or right. If whatever the matter is isn’t a harm to your life or well being, feel free to tell them to mind their own business (perhaps more politely than that). And if they persist upon their path of prodding, feel free to avoid them. Life is too short and too beautiful to let yourself be surrounded by negativity.

Has there ever been a time where you’ve felt yourself on the tightrope of making yourself happy vs. pleasing others? How did you deal with it? Do you think it’s more important to be normal or to be unique? Is there such thing as normal? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Thank you for reading, I’ll try to be more consistent with my putting words on the internet!