There are words I hate. Being into language and all, words are pretty important. Every single one has a distinct and deep meaning, and they do not tread lightly. Words included in this list, in certain contexts especially, include: “ugly,” ironically “hate,” any words that degrade human persons to a state of less than human, and “weird.”
Usually, when people use the word “weird,” they are trying to make sense of something they cannot make sense of. This is what human beings do; we rationalize, for we fear deeply what we cannot understand. We often rationalize our own feelings about things or people by calling them certain names or labeling them, as categorization helps us feel better about our own understanding of the way things are. So when something is called “weird,” it’s frequently because it is out of the ordinary.
Granted, there are things that are strange. Weather patterns can be weird, noises you hear at night can be weird, coincidences (even though they don’t exist) can be weird. There are many things that are indeed quite out of the ordinary, and to call them weird is very innocent because one is simply trying to explain a phenomenon that is inexplicable or puzzling.
Calling other humans weird, however? Most of the time, it is not meant so innocently.
She’s so weird. He’s so weird. Most of the time, things like this seem to be said with an aggressively judgmental and nasty tone or intent. When have you ever heard this as a compliment? Did you see [blank] the other day? They looked so totally weird.
No.
It’s always about the person who does things a little, or a lot, differently, who perhaps doesn’t align with “everyone else’s” point of view, who doesn’t fit in. Being out of the ordinary suddenly becomes an insult. But why? Why should everyone be exactly the same? Why should difference be negative? What power does any of us truly have to define what is “normal” and what is not? Your social constructs are made of paper, but undermine human value just the same.
We’re all weird. And it’s funny, because it’s become trendy to be just the right amount of weird— just a little geeky, nerdy, quirky. Unique. I have yet to understand why society is so bent on stifling uniqueness when it isn’t the “cool” kind.
The one thing I want more than anything else is for love to exist in overflow between the people of the world, and it does exist in beautiful bursts of light around the globe. But it’s also missing from a lot of our mindsets, myself included. I don’t see it in the big stuff, and I don’t see it in the little stuff. Perhaps starting with the little stuff within ourselves will reflect a greater beam of love outwards towards the larger, more daunting failings of lovingness.
As Cara Delevingne and countless T-shirts these days like to say, Stay Weird. And let others stay weird too. It’s about a change of heart. We could all use some of that.
Being out of the ordinary is a compliment. Maybe weird should be exchanged for extraordinary.
