Do Weird People Know They’re Weird?

One of the things I spend an embarrassing amount of time thinking about is whether weird people know they’re weird. Not bad weird. Not dangerous weird. Just the kind of weird that makes you stop for a second and think, “Well, that’s certainly a choice.” Like wearing a tail and cat ears. Come on now… that’s weird.

The other day I saw a guy walking down the street wearing an outfit that looked like he got dressed during a power outage. Nothing matched. The hat made no sense unless he was someone’s little buddy on a stranded island during Pride month. His walk had a little extra drag to it. And yet he looked completely confident, like he owned the sidewalk.

It got me wondering. Does he know why people are looking at him? Or does he think he’s perfectly normal and the rest of us are the odd ones? Then I made the mistake of thinking about it too long. What if weird people don’t know they’re weird? More importantly, what if I’m weird and do know it?

I mean, I talk to myself. A lot. My husband is forever asking, “Who are you talking to?” And I answer with complete confidence, “Myself!” Sometimes I need expert advice.

Nobody has ever staged an intervention for me. I’ve managed to keep friends, jobs, relationships, and a reasonably good reputation. But maybe every weird person says the exact same thing.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized everybody has their thing. Some people wear strange hats. Some people collect things nobody understands. Some people sing to their pets or name their plants. I talk to myself. We all have our quirks.

Maybe normal is just a group of weird people agreeing not to point fingers at each other. And maybe being a little weird isn’t something to hide. It’s part of what makes us interesting. The world would be pretty boring if everyone acted exactly the same.

So I’ve decided it’s okay to be weird. Wear the odd hat. Talk to yourself. Collect strange things. Dance in your kitchen. As long as you’re happy, not hurting anybody, and not asking me to wear cat ears, I think we’re all going to be just fine.