6 Amazing Things That Start Happening When You Give Yourself Permission To Be Weird
By Ari Eastman
1. You’ll find the right people
You remember that girl with the perfectly straight blonde hair who sat next to you 4th period? Or the effortlessly cool dude with too many muscles for a high school junior? You didn’t even really know them, not really, but you wanted to. You wanted them to like you, to validate you, to say or do something that says: “Yes, we see you. We accept you. You’re one of us.” But the problem is when you’re just trying to impress people for the sake of status or aesthetics, it doesn’t mean much of anything. If you’re packaging yourself as just something to sell, you aren’t really making lasting friendships. But when you stop putting up fronts and decide to let people get to know you — the real you — those who stick around are the some of the best and most important people you’ll ever know.
2. Your weirdness attracts other weirdness
Everybody is actually super weird. Being human is kind of weird. Being ALIVE is kind of weird. Your body is doing all these crazy things and you’re just walking along, thinking about Chipotle. THAT’S WEIRD AND AWESOME. Okay, sorry, I got distracted thinking about extra guac. But when you start to embrace the things that might make you a little bit different, you find other people who are into the same things. Sometimes we get lost in this “I’m a special snowflake!” mentality and think nobody else could possibly understand our quirks. But people totally do. Someone out there also loves that strange thing you do. Trust me.
3. Self-love is a whole lot easier
Listen, self-love is a goddamn JOURNEY. I think there’s this misconception that once you figure out how to love yourself, that’s it. You’re just set for life. And that’s totally wrong. You’re going to experience those highs and lows that come from living, and that includes your own perception of self. But when you start accepting who you are and not trying to change it, the road to self-love can become quite a bit clearer.
4. You aren’t afraid of looking foolish
Quite frankly, one of the most important lessons I’ve learned so far in life (and in being happier in general) is being OKAY with embarrassment. The whole DGAF attitude is a fallacy. Sure, you can pretend you don’t, but most of us do give some fucks. It’s not a sin to care what others think about you, it’s human nature. It’s only a problem when you let it hold you back from fully being yourself. I do a lot of dumb things, but they are dumb things that make me happier. Damn right I’m going to dance down the street with my headphones while the old lady at the bus stop watches me. Because it makes me feel good. And like I’m enjoying life. So embrace those moments with open arms because it feels so much better than holding back.
5. You might land your dream job
Okay so to be fair, this point is a little bit biased because I’m going to just talk about my own experience. And if your dream job is to be president or an astronaut, posting obnoxious videos of yourself lip syncing and wearing wigs probably won’t do it. But I digress. I always liked performing. As an only child, I would gather up my parents and put on shows in the living room. My dad gave me his old school camcorder and I started recording little videos, sketches before I really knew what sketches were. I was painfully shy in middle school and early high school so a good outlet for me to be my ~*~true self~*~ was posting these videos on a brand new website known as YouTube (EVER HEARD OF IT????). FAST FORWARD MANY YEARS, a former writer for Thought Catalog saw a video I’d done, enjoyed it, contacted me, and here I am. Working on the internet. A dream job for me at 14 when I didn’t even realize that’s what I was gearing up for. So you never know where your weirdness can land you.
6. Life is just way more fun
Plain and simple. Playing some character for society really sucks. We all do it from time to time, but it’s never as fun as letting go and being whoever the hell you want to be. Life is full of difficulties — pain, loss, moments that will forever humble you — but it’s also the only time we’ve got here so don’t be afraid to inject some fun into it. Let your freak flag fly.