Addams Family

Morticia Addams once said, “Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.” This philosophy can be applied to many different situations in life such as: how your family acts, how you dress, and what interests you. My family, for instance, seems very strange to my friends; my parents,who actually like each other, often spend time together outside of the home. Although they find that outrageous, to me it seems like a normal, everyday occurrence. Another area of life that people tend to classify as normal and not normal is the way people dress. I abjure wearing revealing clothing because it makes me feel uncomfortable, but for many, low cut T-shirts and short skirts are the staples of their wardrobe. Does that mean I do not dress “normal”? No, it just means that my normal is different from their normal.  Aside from clothing and family, our interests are often another subject on the chopping block. I remember being in primary school and hiding the fact that I liked Star Wars,a sci-fi series of movies, books, television shows, and games; because another boy liked it and he got made fun of, I hid my interests to escape their torment. Our class had decided what was normal for themselves and applied it to everyone they knew. When we take the time to really think about the decisions we have made, we can see that our lives are often wrought from what other people decide is okay for us to like. After hearing Morticia’s quote, I realized all the things that I find normal are very much different from everyone else and that their opinions really shouldn't affect me. I haven’t listened to social norms since. Hopefully others will hear her wise words and experience the same epiphany as I.