Monday, October 15, 2007

Am I....?

Am I weird?

I'm a little sorry to admit that I have been asking myself this question a lot for the last few days.
Dare we break out the old cliche of "well... what is normal? is anyone really normal?"
I have to say I am less concerned with the painfully subjective view of normalcy as I am with the simple question, am I strange? When people look at me, do they think I'm horribly odd? When I speak is there a quiet voice in the back of their head going "wow....alright slowly back away."
I find the majority of my likes to fall in the same range of people I often look at and consider odd. I like anime, I like music, I am a video game fanatic, I have a minor obsession with the government. Ok not so much the government as society as a whole. So I wonder, when I talk about these things do I sound at all scholarly or am I simply some raving lunatic no one ever takes seriously. I have a minor in social political philosophy and a BA in Literature. I grew up around video games and completely blame that one on trying to fit in with my brothers. I was simply unaware of how addicting the prospect of online gaming was. I have no excuse for my love of anime besides the fact that I am an English major. Their plot lines, writing, and values in general are so different than ours I find it rather refreshing to delve into some days.
I think my slight obsession with the government/society we live in is warranted. I mean, it is the thing that holds the end of our leashes so to speak. What creature is not interested in the coming and going of the thing that controls their restraints and freedom. The thing that now controls their food, and well being. I also think it would be considered perfectly natural to be more and more focused on such issues when your captor is slowly preforming more and more restraining actions against you that are far beyond a breech of contract in your prior agreement. I think anyone would start to sweat a little, becoming a little more wary of the actions being taken against them. Democracy is a good deal, if everyone was perfect. But we're human. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely. I think the heart of the American people is respectable, amicable, proud, and intelligent. I also think the soul of the American people has become blind, warn out, doused in mediocrity, frightened, and muted. We are a good people, with all the good intentions in the world, somewhere underneath all this.
I guess in view of it all, I don't think I'm strange. Aristotle seemed to have it right when he said "everything in moderation." Too much concern or obsession over anything is bad, and would lend someone to being viewed in a strange light. Think about it, someone who loved chocolate and ate it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner would be considered odd, or politely "eccentric" but someone else who loves chocolate but only has it on occasion would be considered normal.
Perhaps I am, but perhaps to others, I am not. Most importantly, in the long run, will I be able to accomplish something worthwhile in this life?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey ive done the same thing....ive taken a look at all the ppl around that were into the same things im into and i would be like 'wow freakin weirdos....im not weird like them' and at the same time i wonder 'i wonder if i act just like them, i just think they're weird for doin it cause its not me'
i dont think im weird..

weird is just a label like..goth..prep..nerd...its just a more generalized one..anyone who thinks different things are funny, cool, entertaining would be weird from you...so is weird more concentrated on ppl with interests that are shared by less ppl..? yes... theres less ppl who watch star trek than ppl who watch football..does this make star trek nerds wierd? nah not really...ppl just throw this label on things they dont understand

but the star trek nerd may not think the football jock is weird...why? i would think because its more socially acceptable?
im starting to blab now..you can always talk to me if you want to talk deeper about it..hehe

-j0nun

Anonymous said...

A curious compulsion, a quaint quality, a poignant personality; different views on a person who appears strange. There's at least one thing every person does that can be labeled as strange at one time or another.