Normal Is an Illusion

Normalcy. It's a concept I've struggled with my whole life. I remember many a time mulling over the question "why can't I just be normal?" There has even been a time or two when people have right out questioned my normalcy to my face! But you know what? Normal is an illusion. What's normal for one person is not going to be normal for everybody.

How can it? We all don't have the same interests. We all don't come from the same upbringing. We all don't have the same beliefs. We are all distinct individuals. Trying to apply a term like normal to personality is downright futile. In this world where there is constant change, growth, and maturation, how can the concept of normal NOT fluctuate?

Normal truly is an illusion. It's a word that relates directly to the subject of wanting to fit in. Nobody wants to be the odd man out or the fish out of water, but it is when our differences come together to form friendships and cooperation that we see greatness.

In our daily interactions with one another, be open-minded. As long as our differences don't cause harm to others, then what does it matter? I will let you be you, if you let me be me. Look past the illusion of normalcy. in fact, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Flaws and All

Many of us, perhaps I should be daring enough to say that ALL of us, struggle with the feeling of being undesirable. It's an ugly, ugly feeling and is always compounded with the feeling of loneliness, rejection, defeat, or failure. Such thoughts and emotions are incredibly destructive, and require a great deal of effort to overcome.

Feeling undesirable goes hand-in-hand with picking at your flaws--both physical and nonphysical.  Recently, I saw a Dove campaign called Real Beauty Sketches that astounded me. It took a group of women and through portrait sketching conveyed a powerful message about the way we view ourselves and the way others view us. It quite literally illustrates the importance of being grateful for the beauty we do have over that which we do not. (See the campaign here for yourself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpaOjMXyJGk)

I'm sure if I were to ask you to tell me about your flaws and the list of things you wish you could change, you'd be able to think of a few things right off the top of your head. What if I were to ask you, what are some things that you love about yourself? ...Which question is easier to answer?

What's even odder is that those flaws, those imperfections and undesirables are magnified in our own heads. We become self-conscious over tiny details that really do not matter. Our imperfections do not devalue us as people.  In fact, it frequently is quite the opposite. Often times, the quality we despise most in ourselves is the quality that is most beautiful to others. You may hate your laugh, your scars or stretch marks, or perhaps your nose, but, to somebody else, they are beautiful... because you are beautiful.

I am certain--and I say this with full confidence--that your friends, family, lover, coworkers can all think of endless things that they love about you. They don't ever want you to feel undesirable. That's crazy talk! Nobody is without flaws, so do not allow yourself to think that you are undesirable. You are beautiful flaws and all.

Embrace your beauty, revel in your imperfections, and stay pura vida.