"You're weird." ""Thank you."

I remember telling a wild story to some kids in an art class I was teaching about 20 years ago. The details of the story have long since evaporated, but I DO remember what a girl about eight years old with a puzzled look on her face said to me in response to my whimsical rambling. 

"You're weird," she said.

I smiled.

"Thank you!" popped out of my mouth, much to her surprise. 

She looked at me with her far-too-serious face and then a small smile emerged. 

It took a few moments, but my unexpected response had invited her to consider that the world can be seen in many ways.  

Odd can be interesting. 

Weird can be wonderful. 

Different is refreshing. 

An attempted disparaging comment can be be turned into a generous compliment. 

When I doing a presentation at schools, I have been known to drop my markers or the pad of paper tumbles off the easel.  How strange that the automatic reaction of many kids is laughter. Finding humor is other people's distress makes me a bit sad about our species. The way I handle the dropped markers or pad of paper is to either say "I meant to do that" or to ignore it completely as though I had indeed been ready to let the art supplies tumble to the ground as I confidently proceeded. 

I made a nod to this way of thinking in my book, BE YOU! published by Scholastic - my "handbook for amazing humans." 

"Be silly. Be quirky. Be odd. Be unique. Be weird. Be colorful. Be okay being different. Be just the way you are."

The illustration above was inspired by this story, but I was not wearing a crown or a tutu - and I did not have a cat sitting on my head. I am actually known for balancing things on my head though - including full glasses of water. 

Weird? Why, yes, and thank you.