Thursday, May 1, 2014

Don't change who you are, but let's be real...this isn't a sprint, it's a marathon

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The concept of not being too weird to early is not foreign to me, I generally refer to this strategy as "time-releasing the crazy."  You don't want to go full Monty before people realize they can handle and enjoy your weirdness.  When I started dating my husband (and I knew that I would marry him very early on), I waited a whole month before I put a little statue of a sleeping gnome in the back of the fridge.  When he finally saw it, he stood there staring at it muttering, "What the...?" in front of an open refrigerator door.  That gnome has lived in our butter drawer ever since.  I knew the hubs appreciated me for being a little nuts when he made a straight-faced joke one day about how high the gnome's cholesterol must be (living by the butter and all).

When I started a new job last year, it took me almost two months to start hiding mini rubber chickens in peoples stuff.  And it took everyone else a few more weeks to figure out just what was going on.  Seeing as I have hidden over 500 chickens in the world, they have some catching up to do at work.

It's not that I advocate people being anything but themselves, because I don't.  But, as a curator of weird shit, I have learned that it is an art and a good strategy to not put all the weirdness out at once.  Hopefully by sharing a little at a time, I can help bring joy to my day and to others, and quietly convince people that it is okay to be funny, and carefree, and weird, and unique, and yourself.  I think that I learned it was okay to be a little weird by one person in my life, and I am glad I came to the realization that being myself would be enough.

If you are feeling unsure sometimes about being yourself and letting the weird out, just do a little bit at a time.  You can also surround yourself with at least one person who really is comfortable with being a little weird.  All the right people will appreciate you for you, not in spite of you.

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