FA+
Shop
I am Normal
11 years ago
General
Hello, I'm D.O.P.R., and I am normal.
I am operating precisely the way my chemistry and biology intend for me to operate. I am the result of all the natural and spiritual processes that altogether make up myself as an individual. Moreover, I am mostly satisfied with myself as I am, even though I recognize some areas that I hope eventually to alter for the better (at least according to my limited idea of what is better for me).
Please do not use your words to try and shape me into what you think I should be. I'm quite happy as I am - I am normal. So are you. There may be some things about yourself that you wish to change, but at least you are operating completely normally for who you are as an individual. You are not broken or misshapen, you are normal. Any alterations you feel like making will result in a new normal.
If you feel that you are not yet normal, I encourage you to do what you can to find your normal. Chances are, you are normal already and just need to look past what others are telling you your normal should be and you'll find that you had it all along.
Please do not try and tell me that I am not normal, or that I should feel guilty because my normal is not the same as yours. Not everything that is normal for you will be normal for me, which is fine because diversity is great! But I don't feel that my normal should be forced upon others or marketed, or given up to make someone else happy.
I also do not appreciate being guilt-tripped because you are still searching for your normal. I'm sorry if you are not where you wish to be, but your journey for self-actualization should not be built on the ruins of my self-esteem.
Please remember, labels are the things we use to put a concise explanation to the objects and concepts around us that are too complex to explain in a short amount of time. They are imprecise and clumsy, and most often are devised by others in such a way as to match up with their own limited understanding of the concept in question.
The best way to understand someone, or something, is to talk to them directly and find out - from the source - who they are and who they want to be.
Don't judge books by their covers, and don't presume that you have all the questions to their answers. Every one of us is on our own unique journey of self-fulfillment, and no one has the right to lay out that path except the one who walks it.
I am operating precisely the way my chemistry and biology intend for me to operate. I am the result of all the natural and spiritual processes that altogether make up myself as an individual. Moreover, I am mostly satisfied with myself as I am, even though I recognize some areas that I hope eventually to alter for the better (at least according to my limited idea of what is better for me).
Please do not use your words to try and shape me into what you think I should be. I'm quite happy as I am - I am normal. So are you. There may be some things about yourself that you wish to change, but at least you are operating completely normally for who you are as an individual. You are not broken or misshapen, you are normal. Any alterations you feel like making will result in a new normal.
If you feel that you are not yet normal, I encourage you to do what you can to find your normal. Chances are, you are normal already and just need to look past what others are telling you your normal should be and you'll find that you had it all along.
Please do not try and tell me that I am not normal, or that I should feel guilty because my normal is not the same as yours. Not everything that is normal for you will be normal for me, which is fine because diversity is great! But I don't feel that my normal should be forced upon others or marketed, or given up to make someone else happy.
I also do not appreciate being guilt-tripped because you are still searching for your normal. I'm sorry if you are not where you wish to be, but your journey for self-actualization should not be built on the ruins of my self-esteem.
Please remember, labels are the things we use to put a concise explanation to the objects and concepts around us that are too complex to explain in a short amount of time. They are imprecise and clumsy, and most often are devised by others in such a way as to match up with their own limited understanding of the concept in question.
The best way to understand someone, or something, is to talk to them directly and find out - from the source - who they are and who they want to be.
Don't judge books by their covers, and don't presume that you have all the questions to their answers. Every one of us is on our own unique journey of self-fulfillment, and no one has the right to lay out that path except the one who walks it.
Zzshooooommmmm~
The point of view you are espousing is frequently referred to as subjectivism.
I like philosophy, so I commented. I lean towards the opposite, I prefer to identify myself as an objectivist, although that's one of the few concepts from Rand that I even agree with. I also identify as a naturalist and in some ways a materialist, which automatically sets me at odds with several people. Despite all that, I still like your journal entry.
I hope you don't mind me sharing my thoughts. Thanks for reading.
The point of my journal here wasn't so much to put forth a subjectivist ideal, but I did want to let people know that their perception of themselves doesn't need to be influenced by others. Where it could be seen as subjectivist is in the idea of there being no implicit "normal" standard by which all people need to measure themselves. We define ourselves - as much on an emotional and spiritual level as in outward appearance.
I am normal because I am the way I am. I wouldn't be this way if I wasn't normal - glasses, bad teeth and all. There are always things I would like to change, but that doesn't stop me from being normal. I just become the new normal.
I don't need an outside label to describe the facets of myself (though for convenience sake I may use them), and I certainly do not appreciate others telling me that I am not normal because I do not fit into the boundaries of their own perception. In that way, I am more objectivist. I believe that I exist outside of the perception of others - a unit unto myself not subject to outside forces. Not literally, but at least when it comes to people's definitions.
I hope that makes at least a little sense.
Objectivism is the idea that the world is independent from the mind. From what you describe, especially when you say you believe you exist unto yourself, sounds closer to solipsism than objectivism. There is no objective way to demonstrate that the self-aware version of yourself or myself actually exists, only that our bodies react to stimuli. However, you are free to believe that you exist independently of external influence. I actually don't think that I do, but that's really my position and has nothing to do with what you were saying.
For what it's worth, I agree with you that self-perception is inherently subjective. I am not sure if I agree or disagree that there is no normal, as I would put forward that there is a baseline within which you could group a majority of any sample size (whether the baseline is drawn through race, gender, sexuality, music preference). Would that not be essentially normal, and then deviations from that would be less common than the baseline, or, normal? Does it not seem subjective that what is normal for you may not be normal for someone else, or even, a majority of other people, or vice versa? I can certainly think of some ways that set me drastically apart from others. I take pride in my (self-perceived) abnormalities. I also delight in small differences of opinion, and really all of this is sharing. I do hope I don't come across as confrontational, as that is, of course, not my intention.
Ultimately, all the syllabic words we use are merely descriptions. We have to agree on their meaning before accepting or rejecting them. It's perfectly all right to reject them or accept them. I just wanted to point out what you were saying basically described the concept as named to me. I would like to assure you that I don't think of you as abnormal.
Don't worry, you're not coming across as confrontational. I like discussing beliefs, so long as everyone is content to live and let live. One of the biggest truths that I wish people could understand and utilize is that two people can see the same effects, but reach vastly different conclusions - both of which could be correct.
In recent times I have been dealing with my own stresses with people not getting who I am and where I am at, I wouldn't call myself fully realized, and it seems since I made the step to admit this (as well as other things). There have been a couple so far who have reached out in such a way as to say I need "professional help" because I haven't found all I seek yet.
On the flip side, I have also had friends who are very understanding and told me they feel they are in a similar boat. So I guess its a matter of trying to keep in mind that some people are gonna try and tear you down because you didn't make the effort to hide yourself, or deny yourself, or even just bury all your thoughts and concerns with copious amounts of pot and booze, like too many others of our age group. But there are some who are not gonna run from their problems and thoughts.
But some people just don't want to be classed. There are over seven billion people on this planet, and over seven billion different configurations of thought and experience. Stuffing them all into a handful of different classifications is a daunting task and in the case of sexuality or sexual preference, I would say it's mostly futile. You might appease most of the people some of the time, but human tastes are too varied to match everyone all the time. Yelling and name calling and being a "warrior for the cause" won't change that.
Everyone is unique. Some more than others... I don't approve of all the people I meet, but that's fine - they generally have the same opinion of me. But it's when others try and belittle or marginalize me based on labels or identifiers that I do not accept that I get a bit chaffed.
Its funny, when people ask how my day was I very often say "It was average." and the immediate response is "Oh? Whats wrong?" XP
Nuffin, nuffin at all: day was not noticeably good or bad just... average XP