How to be a proud goofball
Since I have a quirky website and service a niche, I get a lot of really cooky people in my office. But then I’m certainly biased in my assessment since I’ve always been a goofball and if there’s any consistency in what I do, I’ll encourage people to blossom at their cookiest. That said, let me proudly present some tenets of my quirky queendom:
1. Unmask
All of us misfits (see my article on learnings from being a misfit), we all learn to mask our oddities to some extent, often until some major life change, or until someone seems to finally see our true selves. We then experience all sorts of hot and cold showers as the fog lifts, the curtains part and we get to glimpse into a bright future where we can be ourselves. The more we can find a way to discover and unfold whatever it is that we’ve been hiding, the better.
2. Exaggerate
Once we learn something about our own quirks, we can play with them, and exaggerate them to the point of a practical joke. Hate the idea? Let me qualify: one, once we’re putting our weirdness out there so everyone can agree that they are there, people tend to be less offended, not more. On top of that, you’ll get a crystal clear picture of how these characteristics affect your life and the lives of those around you. This will help you with the next step:
3. Moderate
Once you discovered your quirks and you learnt what they can and cannot do, you can begin to moderate your weirdness. Neither do you need to be out there all the time nor mask from people you care for. You are now in control of your cookies.
4. Hide with pride = Don’t bother
This also means that you stop to go out of your way to play along with group cultures that aren’t for you. You can but won’t blend in. You can now carve out your own corners in the universe and will begin to make the deeply satisfying experience to meet other goofballs in those same corners.
5. Have values
One thing that can help you tremendously in this journey is to know your values and live by them always. This will also allow you to commit to choices you make, something fundamentally important for forming lasting relationships.
6. Embrace the community
All that said, life as a goofball only becomes truly enjoyable once you begin to form your own community. This may seem like the end goal when you first start out your goofball journey but later will feel more like the starting point of a happy life, as your full power will begin to show once you find a space in the world that feels like home.
