Embrace the weird.

 What makes you weird?

So I’ve been called weird, eclectic and sometimes just a bit strange (and in our local pub they used to call me a goth - even though I’ve not dressed like one since the mid eighties). Oh, don’t get me wrong, I don’t take it as an insult. I once said to a friend that I didn’t feel I dressed like an artist, according to them, I do.

So I suppose what I’m curious about is what makes someone weird?

The way they dress? The sort of things they like? 

What does separate the weird from the ‘norm’?

As creatives I do think we can lean towards weird, although I prefer to call it originality. But do we all? I’ve always said artists fall into two categories, those that get on with it and don’t really look any different or those that are flamboyant and purposely eccentric.

Now, before anyone says anything, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with either.

There are those whose normal setting is ‘weird’ and those who ‘put on a show’. I once remember seeing photos of a gothic rock singer's house in a magazine and being quite disappointed it was all cream leather and glass.

Walk into my house and it looks like a typical country cottage, beams, leather chesterfield sofa etc, nice neutral colours, two psychotic spaniels. Walk into my study and it gets a bit more gothic, dark red, skulls staring out at you from most flat surfaces (not real - I promise), dragons (also not real - unfortunately), and candles, lots of candles. My bookshelves are full of books on mythology, ghosts, poisons, torture and death (I write dark fiction - what did you expect, flower arranging?). Yet I think I look quite ‘normal’ (yea, nobody believes me,even hubby has been known to call me weird).

But back to what got me to thinking about this, is it because of the parts of the brain us creatives use, or something else? 

Do we do what we do because we have to, or is it a conscious choice?

I tried my hand at writing a crime novel, as I like crime, I watch a lot of it, from Poirot to Vera. Could I do it? No. A couple of long standing characters stuck their noses in and suggested they would be a good fit and before you know it I’ve got a dark urban fantasy thriller thing going on, and on. I love it, it’s miles away from the original crime story idea, but I do still have police officers in it.

I honestly don’t know the answer to any of the questions I’ve just asked. All I will say is embrace the ‘weird’ because you never know where it will take you, and sometimes that’s half the fun.