An eccentric haiku and a rant.

*Everyone you know,

deep down, is an eccentric.

So what does it mean?*  

What does it mean to be eccentric? Or even just eclectic? Does it feel electric?

No person, not even  a twin, is exactly the same as any other person.

Why do most people nervously smother those tendencies and act like sheep?

I do understand that there is a wool-over-the-eyes warmth in the anonymity of the herd mentality.

Do they bleat out nicely that you're quirky, or better yet kooky? or not so nicely a crank or a quack?

**

     The truly bizarre thing is that few have the desire, the courage, the confidence to express eccentricity.

All your life you are told: "Be normal, the same, uniform, one of the team, fit in, be well adjusted, ordinary, common, true to your school, one of the gang, a team player, another brick in the wall."

This makes everyone afraid of everyone else.

**

     Throughout history, it was the privilege of the rich to be eccentric. The poor were not allowed.

They could ill afford to be extravagant in mind, or dress, or conduct, or speech. 

Consider, however, the greatest achievers of humanity in the arts, science, medicine, or statesmanship:

Almost all could have been described as: eccentric, erratic, unpredictable, unconventional, unusual, strange, unique, sensational, whimsical, unafraid, non-conformist, idealistic, curious, stubborn, outspoken, and not influenced by the opinions of others.

These are the hallmark of genius, a sign of intelligence, the impulse of creativity--a mind so original that it can not fit into societies norms.

**

     The problem comes in form of the degree of balance. Life is a juggling act on a unicycle on a high wire.

You are crazy to be up there. You are crazy to stay, but it is dizzyingly invigorating.

Lean too far one way or the other and it may all come crashing down. 

While I support the effort to throw off the shackles of the tyranny of the majority, beware!

Curious focus becomes obsession. Odd habits become compulsion. Deviate to far from the center you become a deviant. Push people away too harshly, they may stay away or put you away. Living on the edge may unbalance you. Following the vagaries of genius may turn you into a vagrant wandered to the point of no return, and here be dragons.

**

     So let the people you love but may not understand you be the safety line that tethers your balloon to the ground. Don't worry about being lost in the haystack as the old proverb assumes. When the harsh light of need, necessity, or invention sweeps into the dim barn, it is the needle that gleams and shines. The straw people will continue to sit in the manure of mediocrity. When a like soul casts the magnet of ideas, vision, and dreams, the needle will come forth. Those around will not understand the pull, the attraction. It is those needles we need on the fringes to keep the common fabric of society from coming apart at the seams.

*Everyone you know,

deep down, is an eccentric.

Is that what it means?*