N is for Normal
Everyone’s normal until you get to know them.
I so wanted to be normal.
In second grade, the night before Field Day, I imagined running the races and playing the games in anonimity with the rest of the second graders. But when the day arrived, my team laughed at the funny way I ran–along with the rest of the class.
In sixth grade, I wanted to have beautiful feathered hair like every else and to be asked to dance to a Journey song. But I spent the dances, crying in the bathroom with my curly, frizzy hair.
In high school, I wanted to do all the things my classmates were doing–attending Snake Dances, going to prom, taking the Senior trip and worrying about my peg leg jeans. But instead I worked at a jewelry store after school and every weekend, I got dumped to the prom (twice) and I worried about my family’s living situation.
The more I discovered learned other people’s exteriors, the more I realized it didn’t match my interior.
My mind works in spiraling circles, the internal dialogue never stopping. I can worry about problems that would never occur to anyone else. I have more hang ups than a coat closet.
But on a good day, I can pretend to be normal.
For the most part, I have given up wishing to be normal. I actually have a sedate, normal marriage with the two sane children. But my mind still works in crazy circles. I still have baggage that would cost thousands in carry on fees. And I get tired of pretending to know the rules of the games sometimes.
But if I were normal, what would I write about?
No way. I see too many people that spend their lives trying to be normal and they miss out on the beauty of who they are. Very sad. I love people with the courage to be themselves, regardless of what others think. And I love your 80s clothes and hair. 🙂
Thank goodness for abnormal !! What would we do without it? It’s the new normal =)
A great post that I could relate to so well. I found in life that the harder I tried to be “normal”and fit in, the more miserably I failed. Now, in much later years, I’m just happy to be me… unique, different, and maybe a tad bit crazy, but true to myself. It would be such a boring world if we all thought and acted just the same! I’ve also learned that folks who appear to be very “normal” on the outside and seem to lead very normal lives, often aren’t really, and don’t!! 🙂 I came here from the A-Z Challenge. I’m glad I did, and I’ll be back for more!
~Josie Two Shoes~
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Normal is overrated.
And I think normal has varying definitions. And I think there are varying degrees of normal. Me – I’m probably borderline eccentric.
You’re right. Where would the stories come from if I were normal?
Love this post. Hopping over from A-Z. Nice to meet you!
I love this! I think being ‘normal’ is boring – as a kid it’s hard because you just want to fit in, be like other kids, do things certain ways, and it can be so painful when you realize you’re different and there’s nothing you can do to change it, but then as adults, I think a lot of us can embrace our abnormalities. I think as a writer, it’s almost necessary to be abnormal and more than a little crazy, anyway. 😉
I hope I’m not too normal. That’s no fun. Even if that’s all you want to be in highschool.
Normal? Compared to who? Definitely not compared to the rest of my family. We are midwesterners too and my whole family are HUGE Husker fans, watch Nascar, and talk about how so and so needs to rebuild their barn or whatever needs to be rebuilt. Almost all of my step siblings have dropped out of high school and gotten their girlfriends pregnant (twice, in one case) and many of my cousins too.
And then there is me, reading Shakespeare, watching the Discovery channel, graduated from high school with straight As and college with a 3.85 GPA. I married a college grad who now teaches high school English. We have no kids, we own our house and cars, and for fun we talk about politics, world events, and books. We go to comic book stores and play XBox games and collect Lego sets. I am pretty sure neither of us have seen a football game since before we could drink legally.
So no normal here, unless you compare me to my friends and husband, then sure, quite normal.
I distinctly remember reading lots of Young Adult fiction, and wondering why none of the characters were normal. I always identified with the protagonists, who were almost never normal, and what I didn’t realize is that writers often aren’t normal either!