Be A F***ing Weirdo

“Tetris taught me that trying to fit in will make you disappear.” — A Smart Person

I am weird.

That is not something I have ever admitted to anyone.

I don’t fit in.

I never have.

But I tried.

I’m glad I wasn’t able to.

Now I don’t have to worry about disappearing. I can embrace what makes me unique, be comfortable in my own skin, and just be a happy fucking weirdo.

Finally!

The Roller Coaster Ride

Man, I have been all over the place.

I’ve been loud, quiet, funny, a drunk, a rock star, an introvert, and extrovert, a loser, and a party animal.

I tried all the hats on, have done everything, and in the end, I just needed to be me.

Who Is Me?

A nerd. A boring, homebody. A dad that works every day of the week, who loves his job, and loves spending time with his family. Everything is scheduled. Everything has a place. Everything has a purpose. It is family TV night on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. I get up at 5am every day of the week. I have the same routine every single morning: water, meditate, journal, coffee, read, poop, run. Then I work. I write, film, create, build, win, lose, learn, and repeat. All day. Every day.

I am boring.

In fact, I am the most boring person I know, and I am totally cool with it.

I don’t like going out. I am usually falling asleep on the couch at 830pm.

I have friends that I would do absolutely anything for, that I talk to once a month, if that, and see a couple times a year. Why? Because I don’t like hanging out. It feels unproductive to me. I get restless. I need action. I need productivity.

Instead of fighting it because it is something I am “supposed” to do, I just don’t.

Fuck it. I will just be me thank you very much.

I have two drinks a night, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and that’s it. Usually Guinness, or the discontinued Firestone Wookey Jack (R.I.P.) or a nice Cab (Ste. Michelle — WA).

That’s it.

See? I told you I was boring.

Be You. Be Happy.

Who are you?

Do you even know?

Not who you think you should be. Not who you think others think you should be.

You.

What do you hide?

What do you like that others don’t?

What makes you different?

Just for the record, I don’t really want to know if it’s some weird ass shit. This isn’t a sexual thing we are talking about. I mean, like, “A Bad Case of The Stripes” kind of weird. You know, lima beans. Don’t go overboard my friend.

There are so many things that are not “The Norm.” Everyone should be x,y,z. The heroes have as much of a checklist as the antiheroes. If you a cool, there is a checklist. If you are a geek, there is a checklist. What if you are cool in some areas and a nerd in others? We’ve all seen Rudolf, right? What if you are trapped in an elf’s outfit and you are really a dentist?

You have to be you.

Your happiness depends on it.

Brian Koppelman has a beautiful theory that when you suppress who you really are it turns in to a cancer. If you ignore who you are you (subconsciously or not) get mad at yourself and it starts manifesting itself in horrible ways. Anger, sadness, acting out, doing crazy things, all pulling yourself even further away from yourself.

What are you suppressing?

And why?

Are you giving people too much power? Or are you not giving yourself enough?

Find some heroes. Find people that are different and embraced it.

I wrote the blog for a Chase Jarvis series called 30 Days Of Genius. If you are looking to chart your own path, there are some amazing people he interviewed that would be a perfect starting point. Or just look people up. People like: Caterina Fake, Austin Kleon, Neil Strauss, James Altucher, Stephan Sagmeister, Ramit Sethi, and Brian Solis.

There are people out there that did it their own way, on their own path.

Connect with these people. If you take someone else’s path, you are only walking away from yourself.

There are weirdos out there, just like you, just like me. They embrace what makes them different. They understand that fitting in is blending in is disappearing.

Do you want to disappear?

Be someone else?

Or would you rather be a beautiful, wonderful, happy, fucking weirdo?

- Joey