The Problem With Weird
I’ve got a little problem with Tim Walz and the Democrats calling Republicans weird. Here’s why:
I’m weird.
Always have been. I grew up in a family of weirdos who were so used to being made fun of (because organic was weird, and healthy food was weird) that we developed invisible shields of protection which gave us the keys to a universe of freedom. In other words, we danced to the beat of a different drum. In fact, very often when people ask me what Love Nature Magic is about, I shrug and say “It’s weird.” I mean, it is! I talk to plants, animals, and bugs! I talk about sex! I experience death over and over again.
On Facebook, my friends who are MAGA Republicans today are the very people who called me weird in Junior High school, often while trying to stick their hands down my pants or calling me a slut behind my back. And truth be told, today they have become rather weird themselves. So maybe it’s a little okay that we are turning the tables on them and calling them weird. But weirdness is where the fun is, where freedom lives, and where the wild things are. Have you ever been to Austin, Texas? It’s the blue bubble in the red sweltering pond of the rest of the state. In every shop you can buy a tee shirt or bumper sticker that says “Keep Austin Weird.” Austin is a fun city when it’s not too hot, or jammed with traffic. Although I haven’t been there since the tech bros have taken over so maybe it’s not so fun anymore.
People use weirdness as a way to ostracize others, but I say come on in! Last summer my electrician was working on something while he was wearing shorts. “Is that an octopus tattoo on your leg?” I asked. When he said yes and told me the story of it, I asked if he had seen the documentary My Octopus Teacher.
“Twice! I loved it. But my friends think I’m weird,” he replied.
“Welcome to the world of weirdness!” I laughed. I’d seen it twice too. Weird is beautiful!
The origin of the word weird comes from the old English word wyrd, which comes from the Germanic language. It means destiny or fate. Some synonyms for weird in the Synonym Finder, which my weird grandfather wrote, are: supernatural, uncanny, unearthly, awe-inspiring, mystic, magical, strange, odd, queer, singular. I mean, these are not bad words. I’m proud to be weird.
So, while I love everything about Tim Walz and have his turkey tater tot casserole ingredients in my fridge to make this weekend, and I strongly desire to go for a ride in his turquoise 1970’s International Harvester Scout car with the 8 track tape player, I think it’s better to stop calling people weird, unless you are claiming it for yourself. In fact, stop all the name-calling altogether. Because as strong as I’ve become because I grew up being called weird, the hurtfulness is a wound that still causes pain every once in a while. Sometimes I wonder who I might have become if I felt supported and encouraged rather than demeaned and ridiculed. I’ve tried super hard to break the generational trauma in myself and my kids. Now, perhaps, it’s time to do that in the world at large.
The truth is we are all weird. Life is weird! The universe, especially, is super weird. And maybe having this conversation about weirdness is the first step to truly learning how to love and care for each other, which is not communism, or socialism, or even capitalism, it’s just wonderful.
Signed,
Proud to be a weird Democrat in Pennsylvania.
Oh, yeah. Weird can be great (says me, author of a book titled "The Healthy Deviant" and co-host of a podcast called "The Living Experiment"). I think the reason Walz's labelling works to advantage here is that the folks he is so aptly characterizing with that term are folks who don't WANT to be seen as any kind of weird. They seem to thrive on othering others, and what they want is to redefine their own brand of fear-based hatred, self-dealing, alternate-truthing, and democracy-dismantling AS normal and have others conform to and enroll in it as a new socially-accepted standard.
I have been labeled weird all my life. Especially 1972 in High School doing a paper on whatever religion we want for a Contemporary Themes of Religion class.
I just so happened to have been Reading "Chariots of the Gida" by Eric von Daniken. Theorizing we were artifically inseminated by aliens to create the human race. And the Gods or God was nothing more than e-t's And the Bible describes a,spaceship coming down in the beginning of Eziekel.
At that time, aliens were only Star Trek.
The class jumpes all over me, the teacher, Charles Divine, (ironic) said whatever someone believes is their religion.
I was alienated in high school. Even though today, aliens from space are
more popularly acceptwd. I still am pretty much a loner.