Thursday, May 28, 2009

Living in the mundane world

I was asked today if I ever met anyone strange. I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. I mean here was a person who was educated, financially stable, has lived a good 45 years in this world and was by no means a naive person. Yet, here they stood asking me if I knew someone strange. "Well", I said, "define strange for me." "Oh you know, someone who is way out there in left field. Thinks the government is after them or believes in aliens" , they said. I thought for a second and then ask them, "Have you met someone you think to be strange?" Well, they had apparently been listening to a morning talk show and a guy called in and said his girlfriend believed she had seen a UFO. The radio show host and the guy on the phone basically lampooned the girl and they all had a great laugh at her expense.

Before I get to my reply I would like to tell you that the dictionary defines strange: as being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird. Unusual, foreign, unknown. Slightly odd or even a bit weird, well if you looked up the origin of the word weird you would find that it means fate personified. Because it comes from the Old English word, wyrd, which developed from the Middle English use of weird sisters for the three fates who was the goddess who controlled human destiny. Unusual, foreign and unknown, means not commonly encounted.

In this world I have found that being out of the ordinary and unexpected is what makes this life worth living. If slightly odd or even a bit weird means I am in control of my own destiny then call me weird all day long thank you very much. Unusual, foreign and unknown is perfect for me, I never liked the norm and I like the mystery of being myself. As far as uncommon, well being a vampire, I can tell you although we are many, we are not commonly encountered.

So here I was, being asked if I knew someone strange. It was like being asked if I knew myself. Although the person talking to me does not know of my vampirism, and I am well aware that many do not, I could not pass up this opportunity. Literature, words, writing, these are my true passions and any chance to help a fellow human being along in understanding is one of my greatest joys. So my reply was simple. "Although many people consider the unknown to be weird, and those who have encountered the unkown to be strange, I find the very ones who think them strange to be uneducated about the subjects they fear and therefore tend to resort to a label to hide their ineptness." All I got in reply was a blank stare. On that note, I smiled, turned around and continued on my day. Yes, I am weird and completely happy that I choose a path where understanding is part of my character. Being a vampire may seem weird to many people, but that is because you fear what you do not understand and you do not understand that which you fear to learn.

Until next post, enjoy your day, get enlightened and live up to the potential that is your destiny.

:)= gigi