Randy Thomas wrote a great post on his blog recently. A portion is posted below. To read the entire post, click here.
Back when I was coming of age, I was weird. Still kind of am but … really … I was so.very.weird. I was the male version of Ally Sheedy’s character in The Breakfast Club. And if you think that is a weird comparison to make … welcome to my world.
For some reason being “weird” is a badge of honor today. Well, it’s only a badge of honor if you are the right kind of weird. And all my fellow weirdos know exactly what I mean. I can assure you, even twenty plus years ago, I wasn’t the right kind of weird. I was the “what-the-hell-do-we-do-with-this-guy?” kind of weird.
In high school I had a horrible time. I was shut down at home in that I never felt like I was free to talk so … I didn’t. I never felt free to emote or be creative … so … I didn’t. When I went to school I didn’t have social skills or communication skills necessary to survive the teeming wilds of the High School Jungle of emotional tempests and complications. Of course teens being teens … I was shut down even further. I had a few friends but all I can remember is a constant sense of being inferior, insecure and really oppressed from the inside out.
And then there was the ever-present fear for my physical safety. Inwardly I believed I was gay, outwardly I had effeminate mannerisms. While I was shut down, I couldn’t escape my non-verbal emoting through body language. I was made fun of or threatened all the time. When I did speak up my insecurities often reinforced the notion that I was weak and provided ongoing fodder for others to make fun of. Click here to read more.
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