'Odd' and 'Normal'

Have you ever noticed that a lot of people regard themselves as being odd? I didn't become aware of this trend until I joined HSA, and started noticing that well over half of the blogs have the word 'odd' in the description. Maybe it's mainly a homeschooler thing, but I think that other pieces of society have also embraced the word 'odd'. People have taken to wearing the rather derogatory term as a badge of honor. 'Look at me! I'm odd! You want to get to know me 'cause 'odd' really means cool...or something.'

Why is being 'different' so hip? Why do people want to stand out? For me, it's simply that I've gradually gotten the courage to be myself. I've always known that I'd stand out if I talked and dressed and acted the way I really wanted to. That used to terrify me, but now I've decided that when I feel the urge to dress like a gypsy or talk with a funny accent, I should just go for it. And you know what? People love it. Or they think I'm just totally crazy. I'll say right now that it does take a certain amount of bold-faced pluck and careless defiance to persist in being the 'real me'.

Most of the people who label themselves as being 'odd' really do not seem very strange to me. I talk to them, I read their blog posts, and think 'hmm, interesting.' But I don't think 'strange'. I don't think 'shocker!' I don't think 'woah! That's a completely foreign concept!'

It seems to me that there are two possible options. Option One: We're all odd together, and therefore view each other as normal. Option Two: We're all much more normal than we are inclined to think.

If everyone is odd together, then no-one is really being odd, because odd has become the new normal. If everyone's much more normal than they think, then I know several people who are going to become very sadly disillusioned - 'I've put so much work into polishing up my little Odd Person Badge...you're trying to tell me that it's pointless?' *sniffle*.

My question is this: who determines what is 'odd' and what is 'normal'? If 'normal' is always determined by some vague 'society' that's floating about somewhere, then it really doesn't exist. I bet everyone has a different idea of what being a 'normal person' entails. I think it means wearing boring, skimpy, fashionable clothes, being content to live in America, listening to popular music, being in and out of relationships since middle school, and using a hair straightener. None of that is at all 'me', so therefore I'm odd. Or am I? Maybe I'm someone else's idea of normal. Could it be that most of us are measuring ourselves against standards of 'odd' and 'normal' that do not, and never truly have existed?

Anyroad, I think I'll take the word 'odd' out of my blog title. I might replace it with 'normal'. Then I'll be truly unique.