True story here that very much applies to this quote:
Johane Ligonde who is on our Alliance & a principal at a middle school invited me to a “Mental Health First Aid” training session w her health teachers. The gentleman who taught the class was a hilarious former private practice MH professional, who is now giving these seminars.
He started off by offering to explain, in laymen’s terms, any MH disorder we wanted to know abt: anxiety, depression, ptsd, borderline – were all asked & explained. Then someone raised their hand & asked, “Dave, what’s normal?” I kid you not his lips made a flapping sound as he threw his hands at the questioner. His answer:
“The DSM-5 is a manual that tells us what ‘normal’ is. It was created by a group of mostly white men in their 50s as the avg demo. That’s me! I’m 54. Should I or guys like me, be telling ANYONE what ‘normal’ is? Absolutely not.” A great laughter spread thru the room.
I’m gonna describe some pll I’ve come across in my life. May sound awfully familiar to some: 1) Won’t walk thru their front door when they leave the house; only thru their garage bc they think if they leave thru the front, the door lock won’t lock tight enough & the wind might blow the door open & their dog will escape. 2) Doesn’t eat onions – won’t even let them touch her food, bc at 3yrs old, sliced onions got mixed in her ketchup & she couldn’t stand the taste. Never got over it. 3) Must be the 1st to leave a bus when he’s traveling w a team, can’t let anyone else go in front of him. 4) Must circle their car back if they hit a bump driving, & stare at the spot where they felt the bump to make sure they didn’t run anything over.
We are ALL a little “Crazy” bc there is NO normal. This doesn’t make us bad ppl. It makes us HUMAN. OCD rituals, anxiety avoidances, quirky superstitions, as long as they don’t dominate our lives, they make us who we are. I’ll end on this beauty a follower sent me:
“Normal is just a setting on the washing machine. We’re all spinning & beautifully broken but no one is normal.”