As Dr. Seuss once said, "You have to be odd to be number one".
For a large part of my life, and many others as well I'm sure, I wanted to be just like everyone else. I wanted to be popular, and normal, and well liked. And I was willing to sacrifice who I really was to be the ordinary girl who people got along with. I was ashamed of who I really was; I didn't want to be the weird smart math girl or the giant theatre nerd or the crazy cat lady or the weirdo who spent all her time in the basement painting. It took me a long time to realize that the right people would like the real me who was strange.
Dr. Seuss also said, "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
After awhile I finally accepted that being weird wasn't a bad thing at all. The people who had the same somehow odd hobbies and personality traits as me ended up being the people I liked best. People who were on the academic teams with me who joked about politics and current events and complained about academic courses and scientific research were far more entertaining to be with than people who were considered normal. People who spent their time on stage acting and dancing and singing provided a better environment than staying at home being neutral and ordinary. It wasn't weird to hang out in a book club, it was fun.
Now that I've become comfortable in my own skin and accepted that it's not as big of a deal to be different as I used to tell myself it was, I wouldn't change myself for anything. I'd rather be anything than ordinary. I don't want to be the cut and paste clone that I used to want to be. I admire people who have odd hobbies and talents. People who act like dorks and consider themselves weirdos are far more attractive to me than people who sit politely at the sidelines. I have no problem with ordinary people, it's just not who I want to be.
The last thing anyone ever wants to be is a stereotype. No one wants to be shunted into a group and told who they are and who they're supposed to be. We just want to be who we are. Everyone can be an amalgamation of a lot of different groups. You can do sports and academics and the arts and it's not a big deal. You don't have to be the same as everyone else to be liked.
To this day I appreciate being who I am. I enjoy being different. I like being weird. I wouldn't change it at all, because I wouldn't be where I am if I wasn't odd. I wouldn't be the best of me if I wasn't strange. I wouldn't be me if I was ordinary.