It's interesting to note that people often flip between wanting to be special and wanting to be normal.
Usually this comes in resistance to being more special/normal than you want to be.
Personal example (rare for me, isn't it?):
I had a talent show to practice for, and my hula-hoop routine requires a lot of space. Unfortunately, space cannot be found without people in it, so I had to practice outside. Small guy. Big hula hoop. Dancing.
Not exactly the most common occurrence. Thus I attracted the stares of the passerby coming and going. I got a couple waves from people I knew, but I had headphones in and was able to justify ignoring them.
My only thought was, "GO AWAY!" I'm lucky to be nearsighted so I didn't see if the stares were in amazement or derision, but I didn't like the attention nonetheless. My drive to do well at the show beat out my social paranoia, but even so I still felt the desire to just be normal. Don't stare at me. Don't leave me. I'm understandable. I'm relatable. I'm normal, I promise!
On the other hand, this post was sparked by a statistic I fit. As one thing leads to another x% of people who do la-di-dah do ho-di-ho. Great. I'm in the x%. Just like anyone else in my position. The threat of being too normal is arguably scarier than the threat of being too special. If you are too normal, then you are replaceable. Worth little. Common. One could even say that as a cookie cutter human being you lack any innovative ability. You are simply a product of your environment.
Extremes are nearly always detrimental, and this case is no different.
We don't always get to choose how "special" or "normal" other people feel we are, but maybe in this case it's okay to bite into the sickeningly sweet repetitions drilled into our heads by pastel colors and geese in hats: We get to choose how special or normal we think we are, and that's enough.
You gotta love mother goose. Sometimes she just knows what she is talking about.
ReplyDeleteIf I had been one of those people that had walked by while you were practicing I would have applauded. I'm sure some people thought it was weird, but really..how many of them can do that? Probably not any. You are so talented. So what if your talent doesn't fit into the list of "normal" talents. If it was normal for people to do things like that then I don't know if it would be considered a talent.
I'm sure this blog wasn't about your talent of hula-hoop dancing, but the principle can be applied to lots of other things. I fit into a statistic, too. That whole one where if you get married at 19 then you are a billion more times likely to get divorced. Dumb statistic, and maybe true for other people. You know what, though? Not gonna happen! So what if I fit into that statistic...just because I fit into that statistic does not mean that I will end up becoming that statistic. I like to think of statistics of things that I get to prove wrong to show how awesome I am.
Anyways, this comment was entirely too long, but I enjoyed this post. And Calvin..you are not replaceable. And you are not worth little. You are worth a whole lot. Remember, the Savior gave His life for you. That is worth more than all the statistics and people staring us down combined.