Are you normal?

How many normal citizens do you know? Do you have a definition of a normal citizen?

A norm is something that is common for the majority, right?

A norm gives people a fixed frame and blocks any way for creativity. 

A norm is like a swamp where geniuses, titans, creators, and artists get sucked in and die. Because norm is the enemy of growth and what doesn’t grow, dies. 

A norm defines in advance how to behave. 

As a grandmother, you need to wear glasses and have short curly hair. As a man, you have to lust for younger women and make bad jokes, as a woman. When sitting in the subway, you have to look annoyed. 

Have you ever tried singing out loud in the subway? Try it and people think you are different (read: a bit crazy). 

Our environment and therefore – we ourselves – make the norm. And the norm imposes pressure on us, in case we don’t comply. Hence, it’s us who make the norm. 

The ones following the norm, who follow the herd, can’t deal with someone who expresses their individuality ¹.

To escape this circle of death is to stop enforcing the norm. Growing beyond normal means the decay of judgment. Towards yourself and towards others.

 

*Photo by Paolo Nicolello on Unsplash

1. By individualism I don’t mean wearing big glasses and clothes form the 80th. This again became the norm.