Steppin’ Out of The Weirdo Box
I was recently at Beer and Blog, which is Portland’s Friday evening blog party (at the Green Dragon. It’s awesome. You should go).
I had hurridly parked my car and rushed in to talk with Melissa Lion, social media maven and lover of bicycles and mama to one of my favorite 4-year-olds.
I was having a great day, and was super-excited and many of my friends were there.
And there were a bunch of folks that I didn’t know either, one who seemed very funny.
So he and I clicked, and then he said, You’re awesome. What’s your bucket?
And I said, What’s my bucket?
And he said, Yeah, what do you do?
(Aside: this is a techy crowd. They all do stuff with mobile apps and social media and scrums and wiki-wiki and whatnot. Guess which ones not like the other one…).
And I said, I’m an intuitive.
And he said, Whoa, I thought we entered an alternative reality there, you’re an intuitive, like in real-life?
And the way he said it, I thought, Oh great, here I am in the weirdo box again.
Hello Weirdo Box
I don’t like the weirdo box. When I get put in the weirdo box, I feel separate from the person I’m talking with. I feel separate from the world.
I don’t like the weirdo box.
There are lots of boxes that separate
You know?
The weirdo box. The not-the-same-color-as-me box. The socio-economic box. The political box. The religious box.
All these goddamn boxes.
Same Geography, Different Reality
And here’s the thing about boxes, just because somebody puts me in one, doesn’t mean I need to stay in it.
Or you, for that matter. Don’t stay in a box you don’t belong in, my friend.
Boom! I’m outta the weirdo box, and buying that guy a beer and talking about his bucket (which is apparently technical recruiting).
Here’s our Button:
Okay, I’m not talking about boobs.
I’m not, not talking about boobs, but geography to me, right now, is more like the Green Dragon Bar and less like my actual topographical surface.
I’m saying, dude don’t put me in the weirdo box because I talk and teach about intuition, and am a total woo-woo badass.
I’m saying, you might like this woo-woo stuff, so don’t knock it until you try it.
I’m saying, give me ten minutes to talk about intuition, and I’ll give you ten minutes to tell me about your stamp collection, or your mass spectrometer or bacon or whatever.
I’m saying, Don’t make assumptions but who or what I am.
I’m saying, My intuition isn’t the weirdest thing about me, not even close.
You’re not weird, because there is no normal.
Seriously, people. Seriously. There is no normal.
There is average. There is mediocre. There is humdrum.
But normal stopped existing about the second day on this planet.
So Get Out There…
Get out of the boxes that people want to put you in.
I’m not going into any more emmereffing boxes.
(Aside: emmereffing is a term that my 12-year-old says instead of saying the really not appropriate motherf%*$ing). I like it.
Fantabulous post Bridget! Emmereffing boxes indeed.;o)
I dunno. I think you can have good company in the weirdo box. I enjoy being in the weirdo box with you. I like saying to people, hey! Here I am in this weirdo box and we are having a par-tay. Join us!
Did I miss the point of this post?
Hey, maybe the point is that the weirdo box is really really really big. Like it’s a worldwide weirdo box and we’re all in it.
“Step into my weirdo box”.
Starting to sound like a lady gaga song.
Ahh, it feels so good being OUT OF THIS DAMN BOX. What a great post!
P.S. I can’t believe I wasn’t subscribed to your blog before. I HAVE RECTIFIED THAT MISTAKE!!
Hello Bridget
Thank you for the ‘Notes from Inner Me’
thank you for the term ‘emmereffing’, and
thank you for ‘…normal stopped existing about the second day on this planet’.
This post (along with news of wonderful friends getting engaged) made my day
Love from Meg
Jumping up and down over here on the East Coast (and hoping I get to the Green Dragon sometime!) –
Bridget, this is emmereffin’ brilliant!
And “There is no normal” ought to be a song!!
I like the theme you and Melissa Lion have going — that maybe the whole world is a weirdo box. That’s the square-peg-people premise: we’re all bozos on this bus — and that the box to get out of is the conformity when it doesn’t “fit” box!!
So many quotable sentences in this post (and those graphic boxes)!! – YES!!
Bridget, I love the button! It doesn’t restrict my movement while dancing the way The Box can
So fun and liberating to read. Thank you, woo-woo badass weirdo. I doubt you could be more loveable. Mwah! ♥
Oh, i’ve been shoved in that box before.
I don’t mind the weirdo bit so much, everyone’s different in some way and that’s what makes us interesting. It’s the act of being squashed into a box, it seems so dismissive when it’s happening.
Great post Bridget (loved ‘emmereffing’ too, I’ll be using that!)
I can’t say it any better than Karen did: This is emmereffin’ brilliant!
It’s a good message for me as well. There are some things that I have avoided discussing with people who are my friends, because I was in fear of being put in the weirdo box. WITH MY FRIENDS!! How lame is that??
So thank you for this post! It’s about time I came out of the closet about a LOT of things!
I’m partyin’ in the weirdo box with Bridget and Melissa (as well as Rachael, Meg, Karen, Erika and Dave!)
Right on!
oo yes this is right where I am at. Stepping out of self imposed and externally constructed definitions of self ‘MAN’ and living life from the heart! That said it was only yesterday when someone very special to me indicated that following my heart meant I was still in a place of lack and actually immaturity as opposed to renewal, revival, creative juicieness as I had believed.That was really very sucky and had me wobbling for a bit.
I’ve got to say that I see many forms of sadness and depression around me that are defined as ‘normal’. Misery is normal too. Being ‘weird’ may well mean being more alive, sensitive and wise. It may do. And maybe sometimes it doesn’t.
But either way I’m happy you are here and embracing who you are.
You’re the right side of kooky and we’re glad that you are here!
We’re not alone. We are the Kooky Tribe.
Everybody- You can’t know how edifying it is to see your comments, to know that this feeling of being put in the weirdo box is universal and common.
It’s also kind of a bummer. Because how cool would it be if my weirdo box was just an imaginary construct and everybody else was outside the box and I just had to step out. That’d make this situation so much easier.
I’m thinking:
It is a privilege for people to see us as who we are. It is not a right.
It is a right for us to be who we are. It is not a privilege.
Somewhere in these two lines is the room for a real and loving relationship.
Leila- I can’t believe that following your true heart could be immature and unevolved. In fact, I run from people who tell other people that they are immature or in a place of lack, because I mean, that’s hubris. It sounds like your friend is either scared or jealous, yeah?
Huuuuge thanks for your response. Sadly it was my therapist who made these comments – so I am shifting through a few layers of ick.
Maybe some models of practise always look for broken and flawed even when there is a movement back towards our deepest needs. Either way I’m shedding skin. So I’ll certainly think some about this. Thanks Bridget – I appreciate your feedback.
‘It is a privilege for people to see us as who we are. It is not a right.
It is a right for us to be who we are. It is not a privilege.’
Nail on the head. Nail on the head.
xx
Thanks for this post Bridget. I’ve been stepping out of a lot of boxes over the past year, and have also realized: No matter if I no longer am in a certian box, others will still see me there. That is their perspective, their view of me. Not mine. I’m no longer there. And the people who persist in keeping me in the box in their own head are probably not the people I will connect with deeply, that’s ok too.
You are not only speaking my language, you’re making me laugh and teaching me new words and ways of thinking about my way of being. Thank you! (Still laughing).
Hey Bridget,
This blog is emmerEffing great! So glad I discovered you and pulled up a chair at your potluck. Found you via one of my new favs, Fly in the Face. Isn’t she emmerEffing excellent! New favourite word, already overusing it. And you are my latest blogging find. Great post. I shall be subscribing to your particular brand of weirdness.
Hola Bridget,
….I like you….
That was just an awesome post.
Thank you
Bridget, here’s the thing:
y o u are s u per la tively A W E S O M E
and you make me guffaw like a drunken vicar…Or, maybe an archduke, er you know what I mean!
I’ve cut the box up into pieces for firewood.
Thank you!
So where is the link to your Cafe Press shop, so that I can see about getting a shirt of something with “There is no normal” on it?
People put me in boxes all the time. Wearing a turban can do that.
I just ignore it and go on about my business. If they want to get to know me, they have to ignore the box too or at least get in with me.
I need to get that back up and going!
Words, come easy.
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