Idiosyncrasy
“I've
learned to appreciate idiosyncrasy. The fact is, there is really no
such thing as 'normal'--everybody's different, and that is the
essence of their beauty.”
Kevyn
Aucoin
I ran across this quote
by celebrity make-up artist, Kevyn Aucoin, this morning and was so
glad to see this sentiment in print. There is no such thing as
normal. We keep thinking there is a yardstick somewhere that measures
a person's normalcy, but it's just not so. My friend, Rebecca, who is
an Autism specialist, uses the terms “atypical” and
“neuro-typical” when assessing individual strengths and
weaknesses and how well a person functions in the mainstream. That
assumes that there is an identifiable “typical” person.
Certainly, there is an appreciable difference in the way people on
the Autism Spectrum think and understand the world, and there is a
difference in brain structure, but I don't know anyone who doesn't
have their own take on life. We all have a singular view of the
world, because each of us has a unique history on which that view is
based. We all have areas of strength and weakness, and who knows—our
brains may reflect that difference.
I sometimes think I have
the quirkiest friends on planet earth, but I'll bet you think that,
too. We humans are dynamic. We are ever changing—like viruses, we
mutate based on new learning and experience. Since we are energetic
beings, our form is constantly morphing. We are influenced in the
most literal way by the people around us, because we exchange atomic
particles with them. Sometimes, when I run into my own or another
person's idiosyncrasies, my first response is the think, “Gee,
that's weird.” But, no, that's normal! We're all weird in that we
are different from one another. And the fact that we are all
“different” makes us essentially...well, typical.
Here's the thing: it is
these very idiosyncrasies that make people interesting and
“beautiful” in the sense that they are a genuine expression of
their own soul. If we were all the same (which is what we mean by
“normal”) we would be like ants. We might be more efficient, and
less likely to step out of line, but we would also be less creative,
less innovative, and far less colorful. And life would be so dull.
It's time to stop
searching for the normalcy yardstick. It doesn't exist. We are all
singular expressions of One dynamic whole. Let's embrace our
weirdness. And, by all means, let's celebrate each other's
idiosyncrasies. They are what makes life rich.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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