Some perspective on what is normal

When I was a kid, (no really, it did happen) my step-dad was always trying to get me to be like a normal person. It was his idea that I should follow traditional habits and patterns. Have I mentioned that he and I never really got along? He was constantly punishing me for failing to fit within his intended mold.

It has never been my way to walk in the footsteps of others. I would rather blaze my own trail for like minded individuals to follow if they wish or simply to show others that they can find their own way like I did.

Normal people work 9-5 jobs he would say. In my mind I would reply, but normal people are unhappy. He would also say normal people go to college and get a degree so that they can make more money. To that my internal voice would say, normal people are dead broke living paycheck to paycheck.

We get the idea of being abnormal as bad from peer pressure. Parents, teachers, neighbors, friends, siblings, everyone makes us feel like the only way we are good enough to be part of anything is if we are normal.

Literally what is normal is simply the average of all people together, once the super highs and super lows are discarded. If society was filled to the brim with wealthy, sane people living, happy productive lives, then being normal would be totally awesome.

95% of the population in America lives just a little above the poverty level. 2/3 of the population are unhappy, including many illnesses and diseases brought on by stress. The average person does not have enough free time and spends much of the time that they do have worried over the things they either do not have the time for or can not do due to financial stresses. Still want to be normal?

What is normal is what is average. So, if you are normal, you are plain jane and vanilla. You stand out in no way at all. Mediocrity is the epitome of normal. Being normal is taking the path of least resistance and at the end of that road is the least amount of rewards.

Who is not normal? Anyone earning in the top five percent. Movie stars and successful musicians. Best-selling authors. Professional athletes. People that earn awards and recognition. Anyone at all who is in any way rich or famous.

If you find that you are a normal person, you have bought into the lie that being normal is the way to acceptance. The people that find the greatest acceptance within our society are those aforementioned celebrities.  It is quite often in point of fact that the things that make us not like other people are the things that make us great.

Choosing to be normal is like choosing the death sentence to any future  creativity and accomplishments you may have otherwise had. You can be normal if you want to. But I'm gonna look for a better way

Yes. Thank you. I am insane

When I was a kid people were always throwing around terms like craziness or insanity or madness to explain one thing after another that was going on in the world. It got me to thinking. What is insanity? What does it mean to be insane? Not knowing kinda started to bother me, because there was this total negative vibe to anything that was labeled insane.  So, me being me, I did some digging.

At some point, I can't really remember when, but I remember someone telling me, that according to the federal government, if you have had five or more hallucinogenic experiences in your lifetime, then you are insane. Whew,  I dodged a bullet there. I've only done acid twice. And all my other experimentation with drugs was not the hallucinogenic kind. I have attempted to back up this 5 or more trips claim, but haven't been able to find anything specific to support it, but in either case I'm in the clear there.

Then there is the clinical definition of insanity used by a lot of people, which is, doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. Well, that's just... crazy. Science teaches us that if you control the variables in a circumstance to the point where you are actually doing the same things over and over, the only thing that can really happen is the same thing over and over.

Well what about in society in general?  What is the opposite of crazy? That would be uh... let's see... oh yeah.. normal.  According to dictionary.reference.com normal means conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural. The thing about that is, the standard comes from an amalgamation of what everyone thinks is right. It all gets added up and then divided amongst the total number of voices that there are on a given topic. So normal is the flat middle ground in a given area, with no extreme on either side of the equation. It is the average. Well, hold on a second. I kinda completely hate being average. And... conforming to the standard. That doesn't sound very good to me. I am something of a non-conformist. I have my own ideas and thoughts that often do not match what the average person says or thinks. And I am betting you do too. Take a minute and think about it.

Do you agree with what society says on even half of everything? Do you agree with what society says about what clothing you should wear,  how you should style your hair or whether or not you should drink coffee or tea or listen to loud music, pay your taxes, raise children,  or any one of a billion other things for which there is a social norm? I bet you don't. There are just too many different topics, too many ways in which society wants to pigeonhole you. I do not believe that it is possibly to be average in every single way. I do not believe that there is a single person in this world, that completely agrees with the social norm, in every single area in which society has an opinion. And, if there is a person out there that bland and vanilla, I cannot even conceive of a person that would want to spend any time with them. They would be so dull and predictable. So if you can't be normal what does that leave you with? If you have an opinion of your own, one that differs from society it's well...

Abnormality. Deviancy. Lunacy. Madness

Welcome to insanity. Population, us.