“Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.... The normal”

‘Don’t you sometimes think you are not…umm… all normal?’ she questioned slightly hesitating. I unleashed an agreeing grin, because I knew I was not normal in that very moment. I was happy; after all, for once in many days I was being myself; which is anything but normal. It came as a surprise to myself as well, for how comfortable I felt in her company-- contrasting a great deal with my conventional self which is pretty uncomfortable with people I don’t get to meet often. That’s one reason I hate public gatherings, weddings and places where I am required to meet or communicate with people in order to please them or please myself. They are right when they say ‘everything considered, work is less boring than amusing ones self!' It puts you in that pressure situation where you try hard and sometimes too hard to fit in, that you make a fool out of yourself. Generally, people do like fools, so in a way you have succeeded at your attempt of fitting in! Nobody likes to be left out anyway, I wouldn’t like it too. So here you see I am in a state of confusion. But I am not going to reach at a final conclusion to place myself into the confined periphery of a small word like ‘unsociable’ because I am not one! I do just fine at gatherings as any other sociable person would do. I see I have confused you, so let’s give you a word to live with, just for now; so call me ‘moody’— but don’t settle yourself with this word, as I assure you, it’s something greater than mere mood swings.

So we were talking about normality which if you ask me superficially, is lack of passion, enthusiasm, and eagerness. Normal people are bound by the laws of sanity, and for myself, I would like to be free in a world which is constantly trying to limit ones freedom from every possible angle. So much that our conscious mind doesn’t even realize it. Being normal it self is restricting our individuality in order to fulfill societal expectations of ourselves. Everywhere, every single place we go, our minds are dressed with the idea of being accepted. We want to be accepted so we kill ourselves, kill our identities and are reduced to the idea of being normal, likeable people. If Darwin’s theory of evolution is to be true, then I can safely say that our minds, due to the lack of its individualistic use, have lost its special ingredient. It has become so ‘used to’ of working with the presumed in-built commands that it is reduced to a deal where it has lost the unique ingredient with which it was furnished previously. But that’s only if the theory of evolution is true, so relax you guys!

So, Am I advocating here that being normal is bad and being weird, defiant, and strange is good? Am I saying that conforming to societal values which bind us to the laws of morality is bad? And sharing other people’s line of thoughts and making them laugh at social gatherings is absurdly humiliating ones own self? No, I am not advocating any of that. All I am saying is to not waste your lives taking yourselves as normal people, because that will take you nowhere. Discover yourself and the first step in doing so is to have the courage to expose your ‘not-normal’ self to at least yourself, if not others.

“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.” – Oscar Wild