Article

Tonight I happened to stumble onto this great article* by Heather Corinna, about rejecting the fear of being abnormal. The article is focused mainly on sexuality, but so much of what she says applies to all of life. Being truly myself without worrying about if I'm "normal" is something I've always struggled with, and this article does an amazing job of addressing that. The quotes that really woke me up:

"The most concise definition of normal is "being approximately average." Doesn't that sound so super exciting? I sure hope in my life I can reach the amazing goal of being approximately average. Who needs world peace, the end of global hunger, to develop the cure for HIV or to win a Pulitzer when we could accomplish that?"

"It might help to think about the people in the world you admire most. It's likely that a big part of why you do is that there is something exceptional about them: something different. Maybe they had a challenge or adversity they have faced remarkably well, better than a lot of other people have. Maybe they're different in a way you can relate to, and they don't hide that difference or act like there's something bad about being different in some way. Maybe they have asked something of themselves or others that is more than what people will usually ask. Whatever it is, it's unlikely that you feel inspired by someone else because they're just that normal, just so awesomely homogenous. When you like or admire other people, the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about how cool they are probably is not "Wow, they are so totally average!""

I highly recommend reading the whole thing. It's a great little refresher course on being your own damn self.


*Speaking of abnormality, I found this site via a Google search for "Peewee Herman abstinence rings". Yes, those exist. No, I don't know why.