"You are so weird!"
I used to say that all the time to my mom when I lived at home. She was always offended, understandably, but I really didn't mean for it to be offensive. Dictionary.com defines "weird" as "fantastic; bizarre". I think a common definition would be "different from 'normal'". To me, "weird" is a positive thing. I love "weird" music, movies, books, paintings, and people. Especially weird people.
Please don't write this off as one of those "Go be weird! Spend all your time making dioramas of Star War scenes if you want!" speeches that teachers gave to the kids who hung out in the computer lab in middle school. I'm not asking you to accept "fringe" culture as mainstream or to stop having opinions about people's "unusual" choices. No, my point of this post is show that every human being is weird, and that it's a great thing.
The day before my nephew was born, my sister was in labor and I was driving to my piano lesson. I thought that the clouds above the mountains were simply dramatic and lovely, so I pulled over and snapped a few shots. I was in the hospital for most of the labor process and my thoughts ran deep, as I'm sure many people's do when there's a new family member on the way. I envisioned myself showing the pictures to my nephew in twenty years saying, "these magnificent clouds were simply a harbinger of the magnificent life you would lead." I had a vision in my head of the solemn business of birth, and my expectations for my nascent nephew were very high and very rigid.
When Milo was born, he was weird. He looked red and wrinkly, he cried real loud - not solemn. And he's still weird. He surprises his family with his personality-- the unexpected things he does, the unexpected interests he has, and the unexpected talents he possesses. He is fantastic, he is bizarre, he is weird, and I wouldn't change anything about him. Although my nephew is not filling the shoes I prepared for him the day I took that picture, it doesn't matter to me. If everyone filled our expectations perfectly, life would be extremely boring.
I believe that human beings are God's greatest creation. It's impossible for a human being to take on a role (parent, child, teacher, custodian, president) and act exactly according to expectations. Each person injects their role with a unique personality, and some reject the role given to them and make up a new one. Is Picasso remembered because he painted what people expected? Was President Obama elected because he acted how people expected? Are The Beatles famous because they produced the music that was expected of them? NO!
Weird is mainstream! Plato thought up something weird! Shakespeare wrote something weird! The American founding fathers did something weird! And you have something weird inside of you that you can share with the world, too.
I believe that God is in the weird. Just as giving birth is a reverent, meaningful, painful, and weird experience, so is all creation. Art is weird, sports are weird, architecture is weird. And as human beings, the "creators" on this world, we are made to be weird.
So keep it up, weirdos!
