My brother said that line to me on the phone the other night, “each of us is somebody’s weirdo.” I don’t think it was his own quote, but I thought it worth of passing along.
High tide in New Brunswick last summer and I am looking for a snack . . .that's normal isn't it?
I laughed both at how profound it was and how true. After all, who amongst us really is normal (other than yours truly of course:))?
People tend to get annoyed by others that stray too far from their version of “normal”. Perhaps it is fear of the unknown. But that alone must be normal. Have you ever seen a dog the first time it meets a Pug or other brachiocephalic dog? With the hair standing straight up on the back of their neck, they sound the alarm of that hysterical high-pitched bark, announcing the intrusion of a weirdo.
Yet I am sure other Pugs don’t feel the need to go off when another Pug-dog snorts nearby. Why? Because that is their normal and my Border Collie is their weirdo, only thing, is they likely see enough Border Collies that they are not at all weird to them. It is all about perspective.
This week my perspective is about to be altered a bit as I sit in on six days of Tony Robbins’ workshops here in Scottsdale, Az. Yes, I am back in Scottsdale, seems I have a lot of time here lately. I am sure it will be an enlightening experience filled with more than one weirdo, who knows, it could even be me.
Looking forward to it!
Today I am grateful for my roommate that I just met, who is enough like me that she could, in no, way be considered a weirdo.
Life without weirdos would be boring indeed!
In SOME peoples eye’s……I’m a weirdo because I try to make mommy, ‘the best thing since sliced bread’ for my dogs. And I’m not afraid to look like an idiot to do it. ;o)
Talk about “going green ”
Great photo !
i had a weirdo moment the other day at my son’s play group, the teacher was talking about exercise and how important it was and having them do different things when my son yells out “my mommy exercises with the dogs, jump, tunnel weaves target ” and as the group of moms look toward me I thought I may be weird but oh what you ladies are missing out on. something so important as finding something in your life that may seem weird but also feels so right
I aspire to be everybody’s weirdo. I’m doing pretty well so far…
Weirdo = unique = thinking outside the box = adventurous spirit = creativity = hatching new ideas = a wonderfully unique life!
This is so true for my oldest border. At my youngest’s obedience class (which she insists on supervising every week) there are 2 Sharpei pups. They are only babies and from what i can guess they are not related. But for some reason even those one of the pups had never done anything to Miles nor ever even said hello she growled aggressively. And she is the most social dog i know! This went the same for the other pup (one is black, one is gold) so it just seems that a Sharpei is what she deems weird. She absolutely hates them and they never have come close to her, but she does not have a problem with any other dogs. Must be all the wrinkles 🙂
I have never been convinced that the person(s) who invented “normal” was not just a very creative and persuasive marketing person.
Regarding the New Brunswick photo, most of the edibles show up at low tide, but I wouldn’t classify that seaweed as edible without some serious restructuring.
I have a lot of weirdos in my life. In fact, a very good friend of mine constantly tells me that I am a “weirdo magnet”…BUT that makes ME perfectly NORMAL…LOVE YA Susan…
I agree that each of us must be someones weirdo , my kids will vouch for me.
Thank you Bea. for your sympathetic and supportive advice ! You pinpointed the crux of the situation exactly with the phrase “it kept me from having to defend my choices”
Hey, on re-reading this post I clicked on the highlighted “perspectives” and re-read that entry.
I was at a competition in October, and the evening before there was an aperitif, but I didn’t realise I was chatting to one of the next day’s judges! Little me, I piped up that I’d been watching the world’s championships on the net that week and couldn’t get over how beautifully “fluid” the jumpers, how awesome all the teams… He looked at me and said, “Yes, but of course you must realise that is the result of hours and hours of hard work.”
This is for Trudie. As a first-time mother I received enormous quantities of “helpful advice”–often accompanied by dire predictions of what would happen if I didn’t follow that advice (You’ll spoil that child!). To keep my sanity and my confidence in myself as a parent, I devised a strategy: I would smile, nod and say, “Thank you. You’ve given me something to think about.” Now I never told them what it was I was thinking–which might range from “Hmmm, I wonder if that will work?” to “What a crock!” It cost me nothing to make them feel that they had done their duty, and it kept me from having to defend my choices.
As the owner of an Aussie who is convinced his purpose in life is to constantly scan the horizon (from the top of the A-frame?!!) I empathize. Keep making your own informed choices and don’t worry about other people’s opinions. Sometimes it seems as if we (non-professional dog trainers) are always apologizing because we aren’t experts. Yet we don’t feel as if we have to apologize for consulting a vet (or an electrician or auto mechanic). That’s why there are professional dog trainers: because we aren’t. “Doing the best we can” is exactly what we should be doing and we should say it with confidence and pride. Hang in there!
I am enough NOT like anyone at my dog club, that if I am not discrete about it, I am considered a weirdo!
For example, my dog has a distraction problem with other dogs in the environment. I’m encouraging him to look at other dogs, then click and reward when he looks back or returns to me.I know this is going to pay off. I’m not a big expert or anything, I’m just doing the best I can with the help of intelligent DVD’s, your blog…
So, presently I am trying to get others to help me with proofing in agility training, my dog is the perfect example of dog sitting at the start line craning his neck to look at some dog on the other side of the fence!
But yesterday someone dared give me some helpful advice, namely, that in her opinion, I reward too much. My dog – what, age 3? too old for that now. She stopped rewarding her dog ages ago. I should understand that my dog should want to be with me more than any other reward ! I bit my tongue rather than share how painful I find it to watch her border collie fling himself on and over the obstacles on an agility course.
I don’t think I’ve ever called you a weirdo but after seeing that pic, I’m starting to wonder… 😉