It's National Coming Out day.
I basically came out as weird the moment I left the birth canal. I was a weird child and I'm a weird adult. I was told at my wedding by a relative that I was not just weird but "SO WEIRD".
The weird child faces teasing and bullying by other children and by children in grown-up bodies. There are no campaigns or ribbons for weirdness. The weird adult faces obstacles in finding friends, dates, and jobs.
These days many of the weird are diagnosed with something, but when I was growing up, I was just weird and had to figure out how to cope with a world that couldn't figure me out. I was chased and teased and beaten up in hallways. Sometimes I think it was a minor miracle I survived.
But I did. And I'd like to thank my husband and my many friends who accept my weirdness, and the colonies of fellow weird people I've found via the internet.
It's so nice not to be alone any more.
posted by Alwen | 8:38 AM
5 Comments:
you aren't weird. ya' are a one of a kind & those are the best friends to have in life & love. Don't let others words bother ya'. For chances are they don't feel really good about themselves. So they have to make others feel bad so they can feel better than someone else. But they aren't when they stoop to such low levels of being like that towards others. So stand tall & take a bow..be proud of you!
Would you rather have been generic?
As a fellow in weirdness, I'm glad we're not all the same. I am proudly raising my son to enjoy his inner Weird and be the Geek he was born to be (engineer dad and geologist/chemist mom? He never stood a chance!)
The Weird somehow find each other, and acceptance becomes a given. The challenges of growing up weird are the hazing for being an individual in a world where conformity is rewarded, but it's the risk-takers and those who see things differently that are lauded as "creative" and "entrepreneurial".
I remember in third grade when I overheard a teacher I admired telling another teacher I was weird - as I walked by in a hat I made out of sewing multicolored woven potholders together.
There were years in my young life when I pretended to be normal, but it never worked and it never felt right.
Now in my senior years I can look back and laugh. It wasn't funny then. Love your post. Weird is good. Being true to yourself is even better.
Hello, my name is Donna Lee and I am Weird. It's one of the words that people have used to describe me most of my life. Fortunately, I found a Weird man to marry and we've lived happily together.
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