You’re Weird, And Guess What! So Am I.
Be yourself.
That’s what we are always told. Don’t be afraid to be yourself.
It sounds so simple and yet the majority of people struggle with it. Either that or, they can only be themselves around those who are closest.
Why is that?
Whether times have changed or not the only part I can really analyze is the timeline of my life - the 90s until now.
In the 90s and early 00s, weird was typically used as an insult. Yet, you could still be weird and get away with it. Your “weird” behaviour was rarely recorded because every person nearby did not have a portable camera on them.
These days, if you do something abnormal a bunch of people nearby will start recording without shame (and they think you’re the weird one).
Why is weird an insult though?
People are generally put off by behaviour or actions they are not accustomed to. It makes them uncomfortable and the defence is to put you down. They think you’re weird, abnormal, and off. Little do they know, they are weird too.
Truth is, we are all weird. Why?
Simple. We are all different.
There may be more similarities in some of us than others, but at the end of the day, we are different. We each grew up in different environments, were told different things at different ages, and had slightly different traumatic or even just memorable events.
Depending on what happened to you at what age will mean that you turned out slightly different than the last person.
We’ve all seen it even in our friend groups. Maybe your dad made you watch football when you were young every Sunday, while my dad was showing me, Bruce Lee.
While I was jumping over couches kicking the air and screaming, you were in the backyard tackling your brother.
To me, seeing you tackling your family would appear weird. Meanwhile, seeing me screaming like Bruce Lee would be weird to anyone who’s never seen him. (and probably weird to most who have seen him too).
The point is, each of these individual experiences will make us different, and what is different to one, is weird to another.
So… Why are you hiding your “weirdness”?!
Are you scared of what people will think of you?
Are you worried it will chase people away?
Are you embarrassed by who you are?
Maybe you don’t even know who you are?
Whatever it is, you are lying to yourself, and others, as long as you are hiding who you truly are. Not only that, but you are doing yourself and everyone else disfavour.
On top of that it requires effort. Effort that could be used in learning, nurturing friendships, and saving the world (maybe).
Imagine if all the energy you spent making sure you didn’t slip up and give a glimpse of who you really are, was used towards anything else in your life. You’re too busy being who you think someone wants you to be.
For all you know, they might even like the real you better.
We’ve all seen it… We’ve all experienced it! You make a friend, and then one day you just let go and be yourself and your friend comes out and says: “you’re hilarious! I had no idea”.
Maybe you went drinking with a group of friends and your filter comes off and then the whole table discovers who you are, and they love it. Unless you’re an angry drunk, you’ve likely heard that line: “I love you when you’re drunk”.
It turns out, they actually do like the real you. Oops!
Go ahead, try it.
Next time you meet someone new, from the beginning, be yourself, no filter, 100% you. Don’t hold back and see what their reaction is.
“But what if they don’t like me?” … GOOD! Better than them not liking you for who you are and you just putting up this mask for the rest of your life.
This is something I have been practicing for a few years now and it’s worked wonders.
Want to know why I started doing this?
Alcohol.
Turns out I was more fun when I was drunk (I'm sober now). It happened almost every time someone I never drank with ended up seeing me drunk. “I need to drink with you more often!”
The main differences were that I wasn’t afraid to dance, wasn’t afraid to talk to people, had less of a filter, and came off as more confident.
Essentially, I wasn’t afraid to be who I wanted to be.
I eventually noticed this and applied it to my sober life. Guess what happened!
Some people have been pushed away, and more got pulled closer. The ones who were pulled closer though, our relationship strengthened. This had an immense weight on my shoulders. I could be as weird as I wanted, all the time.
It’s great. Try it and see what happens in your life.
Believe it or not, this is one of the reasons I am sober now (Nearly 6 months sober). I had started drinking far too often (that’s a story for another day) and relied on it to let go and be myself. Once I started being comfortable being who I am while sober, I lost my dependency on alcohol.
So what I'm getting at is the cure for alcoholism is being weird!
Just kidding. Kind of.
However, being your true, unique, abnormal, strange, weird self, will undoubtfully improve your life.
Try it, and if it doesn’t work, come back and shit-talk me on this post.
The comments are open.
Until then,
Be Love.
If you enjoyed this, and want exclusive content, subscribe to my free Newsletter.
