Different is Good
I am not normal, is anyone?
I don’t remember when I first began to proudly proclaim, “I am not normal.” I’m sure, though, that Star Trek was part of it. One of the many lines my sister and I used to quote to one another was Geordi La Forge’s exchange with Dr Soran in Star Trek: Generations:
Soran: Have you ever considered a prosthesis that would make you look a little more… how can I say… more normal?
Geordi: What’s ‘normal’?
Soran: Well, that’s a good question. Normal is what everyone else is and you are not.
I think the Arby’s commercials in the 90s were a part of it too: “Arby’s is different. Hey! Different is good!”
And, the church also taught me this:
For you are a chosen generation
A royal priesthood, a holy nation
A peculiar people that you should
Show forth the praises of Him
Who has called you out of darkness
Out of darkness, out of darkness
Into His marvelous light
Into His marvelous light
-Chosen Generation (from 1 Peter 2:9)
I grew up with a strong belief that being different, unique, special, “abnormal” was a good thing.
When I realized that I am queer, I was honestly delighted. One more thing to make me not “normal.”
I don’t actually believe anyone is normal. Some of us fit in better with the majority…
