When the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz campaign and allies call the other side “weird,” it means they (we) think they’re strange in a negative kind of way. Yes, it’s a judgment. One that’s long overdue.
On the other side of the weird continuum is the better version, “positively weird,” which psychologist/author Sol Gordon (1923-2008) described decades ago. As the protagonist Daryl in my semi-autobiographical novel Minding Therapy states, “And in being different all my life I learned a valuable lesson – how to be okay being out of the norm. I could be plain old weird or I could make that ‘positively weird,’ as I read once in a how-to book on overcoming adolescent angst.”
In more recent times, screenplay writer Graham Moore (The Imitation Game) moved many with his 2015 Oscar acceptance speech in which he advised young folks to “stay weird.” As the clip below indicates, #StayWeird then went viral.
In 2020 journalist Olga Khazan gave readers a similar take in Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World, which her publisher compares to Susan Cain’s Quiet and Scott Stossel’s My Age of Anxiety. “…Khazan reclaims the concept of ‘weird’ and turns it into a badge of honor rather than a slur, showing how being different — culturally, socially, physically, or mentally — can actually be a person’s greatest strength.”
Expounding on “the perks of being a weirdo” the author notes that creativity is often a linked trait (The Atlantic). A few excerpted book quotes that are pertinent:
An unusual childhood is not the only thing that can make you more creative. Being considered “weird” in your culture can also enhance an element of creativity called “integrative complexity.” People who are strong in integrative complexity tend to handle uncertainty well and excel at reconciling conflicting information. They’re often able to see problems from multiple perspectives.
In fact, people who don’t fit neatly into a particular group have been found, over and over, to perform better at outside-the-box thinking.
…(T)rying to think about your weirdness in a positive way—a process called cognitive reappraisal—can help you cope with the adversity that often comes with being an outlier. Reframing what makes you weird as being what gives you strength can, ultimately, make you happier.
Selected Reviews of Weird
Publishers Weekly: “Khazan casts a wide net on who is considered weird, including those who go against expectations, those who are transgender or live outside of gender norms, and those with physical differences not considered ‘normal,’ such as dwarfism.”
Bookpage: “Khazan celebrates the power of the weird banding together, such as when people who are unique offer a boost of creativity or the minority voice challenges the status quo. But she celebrates these benefits without glazing over the hardships of being an outsider—the ways loneliness and isolation can have serious mental health effects, or the gritty hardships of finding partners, work, friends or places where you can be yourself.”
Lori Gottlieb, therapist: “Almost everyone who walks into my therapy office thinks they’re somehow different—or, yes, weird. But in her funny, personal, and always surprising book, Olga Khazan turns that feeling into a hidden strength. Chock full of fascinating research and real-life stories, Weird is both comforting and addicting, and a celebration of the power of our own uniqueness.”
