I was talking to a wonderful friend on the other side of the world earlier, and the question of perception came up - how we see the world, and perhaps how the world sees us. It’s interesting because it’s often been remarked that I am - how best to put this? - different than most people in this regard.
I don’t really worry about how I am seen. I can understand that this might be disregarded by others as an off-hand comment by somebody that doesn’t look too bad; following the idea that you can only live easily in your own skin if you know you “fit in”. And yet I don’t really fit in. For the greater part of my life I have been an outsider. A free spirit. When I worked in London the head of the department openly described me as “a little bit alternative”. In the city it became more pronounced; where so many wear the same clothes, and aspire to the same things.
The way I see the world is illustrated by the photo at the head of this post. It was taken at a recent family wedding, and gives a good indication of “me”. Whereas most people were taking photos of grinning relatives in stilted poses, I quietly took hundreds of photos of things happening. The above marked the moments before the ceremony began. The interest for me is in the story of the image; what was happening. A fixed toothy grin tells nothing. The interesting thing is people - us - each other - our lives. We recognise drama, and we are singularly good at reading expressions - even in still images.
What am I saying here?
Perhaps that I don’t see the toothy grins, and the new haircuts. I don’t see the scuffed shoes and the trousers that don’t quite fit. I tend to see the rest of the story; the stress, the excitement, the larger than life characters and the really interesting people - the quiet ones.
There’s a great quote that sums up a lot of “me”, and the way I see the world;
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.