Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another:
“What! You too!
I thought that no on but myself…
C. S. Lewis
Bond of Friendship
- I just had this experience. For some reason, at a breakfast meeting, I had one of those unfiltered moments when I asked her (how embarrassing – I’m not sure why I’m sharing this but, here goes) if, in her dreams, she ever really had to go to the bathroom, but no matter how many times she went to the bathroom, she still really had to go. Then, when she woke up, did she then realize she really did have to go to the bathroom! She said yes, it did happen to her. I honestly thought I was crazy with having these dreams, but with my willingness to share this with someone else, I found that I was not alone . It may be that only she and I are weird, but I’m not alone and I can live with that possibility.
- Let’s see, what are some other ones? My thumbs are double-jointed and I used to flip my thumbs out of whack in front of people. People were usually grossed out and thought there was something wrong with me. Fast-forward to a few years ago when I was told I had so much damage done to my shoulder and bicep without remembering it happening because I have a LOT of double joints. When I was younger I really thought there was something wrong with me. Now, as an adult, I look back and am bummed I didn’t know I was so double-jointed. I could have probably been a contortionist – maybe with Cirque de Soleil! It’s all in how you look at it. (Turns out my brothers have double-jointed thumbs, too, and liked freaking out their friends with them. I am again not alone.)
- OK, last one (not that this is the last oddity about me, just the last one I’m going to share). I do not like chocolate candy by itself. I enjoy chocolate, preferably dark chocolate, when it is combined with something like peanut butter, nuts, flowing caramel, etc. If I eat a piece of plain chocolate, I HAVE to eat a piece of cheese after it. It offsets the taste of the cheese perfectly. The greatest positive is to have a drink of Coke right after the cheese to offset the cheese taste. I haven’t had anyone tell me they like this as well and I usually just get a very strange look and often a “you’re weird” thrown my way. I think we’ve already established this, though.
- OK, that was weird, I know, but we’re all weird in some way. I believe that once you come to terms with that fact, you don’t take life so seriously and life becomes more of an adventure. It’s part of what makes life so interesting.
- This is another attempt to show that no matter what you’re told or you tell yourself, you’re not alone. We’re meant to do life together. Isolation is at the heart of abuse. If an abusive person can make you feel isolated by telling you you’re too weird and different, it is less likely you will realize that what you’re being told is wrong.
- We all have oddities about us and strange thoughts/dreams. It’s ok…it really is…and they can and will even bind us together when we share them with others.
~ Joanna Lynn
