We Should All Be Weird as Fuck
Because somewhere along the way being human became being weird and that’s bullshit.
“You’re so weird,” they say, smiling at me. It doesn’t matter who they are - they are a slew of friends, acquaintances, teachers, store clerks, strangers becoming friends - 80% of everyone who has ever spoken to me in my life. “You know you like it,” I’ll smile back.
But why? I’ve spent a lot of time journeying, mentally and physically, in the past year trying to figure myself out. How do I relate to people in a way that makes them happy? How do I relate to people in a way that makes me happy? What causes friction in my life? What causes acceleration? I moved to New York (and back), I travelled Europe (15 cities, 10 countries), and I most recently threw myself out into the desert to burn some man down (sorry bro). I still don’t have a clear picture, but I’m beginning to gather the puzzle pieces and I thought I’d throw them out into the internet so you guys can help put them together with me.
Be Weird Because You Laugh
At everything - which most people will interpret as nothing. Let your face explode with happiness because you’re so full of everything around you. These other humans are amazing. This planet is beautiful. So much has come before and will come after and it’s totally cool to get excited about it. Especially that adorable dog with the funny walk ahead of you on the sidewalk. Or the way your friend’s forehead starts to crinkle when they’re thinking too much about nothing at all. Or that weird stride they do that you can point out from a mile away. Embrace it. Let it fill you and explode out of you with no need to justify. If others don’t understand, or seem confused, try to share a little with them so they see what they’re missing.
Be Weird Because You Care
About things we’re supposed to stop caring about - like birthdays.
Stay up ‘til midnight and be the first to call your friends in other cities. Show up on the doorstep if they’re nearby. Because you know what? The fact that this day happened x amount of years ago is pretty pivotal to the fact that they’re part of your life now and that’s amazing! Get hype. It’s cool. The “we’re adults and we don’t put effort into these things” police won’t find you, probably. If they do, tell ‘em we’re kicking them out of power.
About things you can’t do anything about.
That big meeting/interview/life event/waiting/illness your friend is going through right now that you can’t do a single thing to change. Sit near them. Send them heart emojis. Get sweaty palms for them while it’s happening. Celebrate for them if it goes well. Let your heart break for them if it doesn’t. It’s okay to have your heart entwined in someone else’s life. If we all did it more the ropes would grow stronger. The pain would be more dispersed. The joy would travel further. We’d be in it together.
Be Weird Because You Don’t Care
About missing the concert. Or giving away all your things. Or sleep. Please miss a lot of sleep. Stay up all night and learn someone’s stories. Find out what they loved when they were 8 years old and what they love now and why that changed. Find out what song they used to sing in the car on roadtrips. Find out what they’re afraid to say. Find out what they want to say but nobody cares to hear. Find every nook and cranny and use it to become so full you re-energize from it instead of sleep.
Be Weird Because You Ask For Help
I read Amanda Palmer’s “The Art of Asking” while traveling this summer, and while I could go on about the value in that forever, I’ll try to keep it short. We all need things sometimes. A bed. A meal. A hug. Money. Time. Luckily, there are so many of us that at any given point in time someone probably has a little excess of that thing you need. But you have to put it out there. You have to do that icky, terrible, scary thing called being vulnerable. I need help. I can’t do it alone. I just moved back to one of the hardest rental markets in the U.S. after months of traveling and would legitimately be homeless without accepting help from my friends. Life is huge and overwhelming and we’re all going to drown if we don’t raft together sometimes. But if we raft together, it’s gonna be one hella good party.
Be Weird Because You’re Cut Open
That’s, I think, what this journey has shown me so far. I’m weird because I’m an open hole, hoping people will fall in, hoping people will take out. I’m a walking bundle of exposed circuits and nerves, never searching for a shelter, just a place to share. So yeah, I’m weird as fuck. I cried because we eat bacon when I was six. And I bought you a present on your birthday when I met you the week before. And I text you all day during your important meeting because it was stressing me out too. And I fell in love in 30 seconds and can still feel it in my bones. And I admitted out loud that I’m broke as fuck. And I bought you dinner when I wasn’t. I’m cool with it. I’m ecstatic about it. Because the best people I know are weird as fuck too.
❤ Hit recommend if you’re feeling weird as fuck.
&& please tweet me your favorite way to be weird #weirdasfuck.
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Published in Startups, Wanderlust, and Life Hacking
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