On Being Normal

"Is he a doctor or a patient?" I asked Reiko.

"He's a doctor," said Naoko. "Doctor Miyata."

"Yeah," said Reiko, "but I bet he's the craziest one here." "Mr Omura, the gatekeeper, is pretty crazy, too," answered Naoko.

"Sounds like patients and staff should swap places," I said.

"What makes us most normal," said Reiko, "is knowing that we're not normal."

- Norwegian Wood

That idea struck me a lot. I liked how in the hospital, the 'patients' with supposed mental problems seemed completely normal, friendly, sweet and reserved, while those that seemed more in need of mental professional help were the staff members - the ones employed to help the patients. We're all a little mental, really, because there is only one very elaborate and detailed definition of being perfectly mentally healthy, and I think we'd all deviate from this ideal a little, whether it's only at little points in our lives or if it's engraved in our personality. The difference lies in whether you look at who you are and recognise that you are individually, uniquely you, with parts that might make people laugh or think you're 'weird', or whether you think nothing about you is out of sorts and you're a perfect role model in an insane world. No one stays perfectly normal in a world like this.

I laugh very loudly at things others don't find funny. I get extremely, extremely emotionally attached to a story or someone's issues. I tear up pretty badly reading lame things. Sometimes, out of nowhere, a small memory or joke jolts me and I cry or laugh out loud in the train. I can get so embarrassed that I cry when someone makes a normal comment or harmless joke. I usually assume the most negative of options when little friendship-related things arise, like when someone forgot to include my name or someone's talking about me without me around. I both love and hate looking at pretty girls. I like standing on tables and sitting in trolleys. Sweet romantic movies make me the most emo. I feel like kicking kids who fake-cry. These aren't even the interesting bits. If you're reading this and thinking, 'this is nothing, I've got cuter stuff to share', then congratulations!

What is normal, but being abnormal? It's the most normal and sane of people who are unusual. Who even came up with the concept of being 'normal', anyway? It's terribly subjective and ignorant, and who made 'weird' a bad thing?

We're all different, and those different parts are what makes us special. It's the coloured bit that juts out and makes people interested. It's what people remember, sometimes as an ugly mark - screw them - and sometimes as a gem. Everyone has different coloured bits that jut out. The person who doesn't is the one who isn't normal.