Monday 8 March 2010

Eccentrics can be open to abuse

Here's some interesting (and amusing) information about the ups and downs in the life of an eccentric performance poet.

"Don't worry. No experience in life is wasted. Good or bad: it's all possible material for poems and songs."

I have found that being labeled 'Eccentric' can mean walking a narrow and sometimes lonesome path. To stray from this narrow path of acceptability can often mean a short period of isolation, or even worse: being expelled from part of a group that I had previously thought of as an understanding gathering of welcoming friends. (You'll quickly find out who your friends are).

Labels can be so harmful. I am no different now than I've always been. So one has to ask this question: why the sudden change in the attitudes of a few individuals, when I do something that is narural for me, but is now seen as emanating from someone with the label: 'Eccentric'? It's as if the label has now become an invisible target; people taking potshots at me from hidden vantage points along my given path. For what reason, I cannot fully understand. I will continue to ponder.

Labels can easily be attached and removed too. My 'Eccentric' label has been attached to many things locally, and the individuals who've tied it to their own particular pet cause, or event, have been very happy with its positioning, but a lack of a true understanding - by some people - of what eccentricity really is, can lead to the once appreciated label to be ripped off and cast aside.

But it is not all bad. If you are thinking about coming out of your eccentric closet and are now having second thoughts, don't be concerned. If you are true to yourself everything will work out fine. Yes, we'll get our knocks from time-to-time, but whats a few knocks when they're shared between true friends. The people I know and mix with understand that we are not all cast from the same die, and we all celbrate this fact. Let yourself go. Let your eccentricities flow!

* According to studies, there are eighteen distinctive characteristics that differentiate a healthy eccentric person from a regular person or someone who has a mental illness (although some may not always apply). The first five are in most people regarded as eccentric:

1 Nonconforming attitude
2 Intense curiosity
3 Idealistic
4 Happy obsession with a hobby or hobbies
5 Known very early in his/her childhood they were different from others
6 Highly intelligent
7 Opinionated and outspoken
8 Unusual living or eating habits
9 Not interested in the opinions or company of others
10 Mischievous sense of humour
11 Single
12 Usually the eldest or an only child

* Wikipedia


* So long as a man rides his Hobby-Horse peaceably and quietly along the King's highway, and neither compels you or me to get up behind him - Pray, Sir, what have either you or I to do with it?

* Laurence Stern (1713-1768) British Writer.


Want to have some fun? Why not become a friend of the Eccentric Club? To do so, please click on the Eccentric Club link below. Once the site is accessed it's there you'll see the friends section.


Eccentrically.
Colin.

http://www.inclusifolk.com/
http://www.eccentricclub.co.uk/

No comments:

Post a Comment