Weirdos of The World UNITE!

Massie: Lisi, are you a rope?

Lisi: No, why?

Massie: Because you’ve been slacking!

I know, I have been slacking on my posts. I am so sorry. March was a rogue month and my routine was its casualty. But I am back and ready to give my unsolicited take on life as I see it. Oh, and my excuse for not posting last week? I was visiting my dad in Florida without my laptop. I wanted to be present and come home with a tan. I accomplished both.

One humid evening over wine and Ruffles, I asked dad to describe each of his kids using one word only. He rolled his eyes and asked for another topic. I poured more wine and begged. Here’s what he said:

My brother: Bandit. (His way of saying a warm-hearted rascal.)

My sister: Perfect. (Oh, yes he dzid. But he’s right. She really never got into trouble once.)

Me: Character. (His way of trying to sound positive.)

Of course, I wanted specifics. He reminded me of my eclectic style and how he once said,  “Stay out as late as you want tonight. No one is going to attack you in that outfit.”  Then the private school that wanted to kick me out because they thought I couldn’t handle the material. “They were the morons, not you.” Then, the fact that I quit my executive job to become a writer. “You’ve always been…different. The way you see things. The way you say things… there’s no one like you.”

Me: “In other words, I’m a weirdo.”

Dad smiled with pride and said, “Yes.”

Beaming, I took it the way he wanted me to take it; as the biggest compliment ever. I want to stand out. I want to be different. I want to see the world through my weirdo lens and then share that view with you. And I want you to share your unique views with me. That’s how advancements are made. That’s how art is created. That’s what makes conversation stimulating. Fitting in is the wrong goal. Fitting in means selling out. It means giving up the thing that makes you special. It’s returning a gift.

I am beyond grateful to my parents for not judging me or trying to change me. They had enough confidence in themselves, and me, to accept me for who I was. That acceptance gave me the confidence I need to take chances, to fail, to dust myself off, to laugh at myself, and to show up every day and write things that you may or may not like.

These days, I see middle school kids betray their true natures to fit in. I see high school kids overdosing and killing each other because the pain that comes with being different is too much to handle. And I see parents who are micromanaging their kids’ social lives, appearances, and hobbies to make sure they fit in and don’t get left behind. In doing so, they are sanitizing unique souls and obstructing our views.

The goal should be acceptance, not fitting in. Weirdoes of the world UNITE!

 

xoxo Lisi

 

 

 

 

11 Comments

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  • Kendra Gotly says:

    I’m so jealous I wish I had a dad like u he should be cloned

    • Lisi Harrison says:

      Kendra,
      You’re not the only one asking for a clone of my dad so I am donating the profits of my books to science research. We will make it happen. Once it does, you’re on your own.

  • Kendra Gotly says:

    I am so jealous I wish I had such a great dad he should be cloned

  • GM says:

    Hello, Lisi (from cold and snowy BC)!

    I pretty much went through your entire site within an hour and wow, this was a major throwback (the nostalgia hit me hard!).

    I used to read your blogs weekly back in the day when the “iPad” was just Massie’s room and not some overpriced tablet (Blah-g Wednesday’s anyone?). The Clique with all it’s over-the-top fashion and drama was (and still is) one of my favourite series! It was a very nice mixture of clever humour, diverse characters with some electric and unique personalities and all the amazing designer clothes!

    It gave me a weird tingle of excitement reading your previous comments about a future followup Clique novel. In recent years, many of my favourite authors from childhood (Meg Cabot, Ann Brashares, Cecily von Ziegesar, JK Rowling, etc.) have done “adult sequels” and some were good, some were “meh” but honestly, the PC “all grown up” is the one I have been waiting for! I am sure you will not let down and I am looking forward to it (no pressure!)

    Good luck!

    • Lisi Harrison says:

      Hi GM,
      I hope it warmed up there for you. I love that you checked out my site. I often wonder if anyone bothers with websites anymore. I do but there’s usually a shopping cart icon involved.

      Thank you for reaching out. I will do my best to make the Clique follow-up worthy. Pray for me…

      xoxo Lisi

  • Madeline says:

    hearted the massie comedy but also relate to the being a weirdo i’m definitely that in my family too

    xx

  • Carly says:

    I love everything about you. And you can take that to heart knowing it’s coming from your “perfect” sister 🤪

  • Kiana says:

    I am going to be honest. I hated reading your post. Why? Because you had and have everything I ever wanted. My parents suck. My mom has hurt me in all those ways. Controlling me, micromanaging my life, lying, manipulating just to keep her reputation on check, telling me I’m not normal and treating me different because I was and am different. And my dad? He was never even there to see any of the emotional abuse. All I ever wanted was to have my mom make dinner when I was young, ask me how I was doing, actually give a crap about me. She never bothered. She only cared about me going to church and trying to get me to not get along with my dad. I know what word comes to mind when both my parents think of me. My mom would say ‘graceful’ with hesitation and my dad would say ‘smart.’ But what my mom would really want to say? ‘Inactive,’ meaning I’ve ‘fallen away from church,’ aka I’m no longer a member which means I’m no longer a child she should care for. You have no idea how lucky you are. I have regrets like, I should’ve stood up to my mom even if it meant getting kicked out, I should’ve rebelled against her even if I was the only sibling hat would. I shouldn’t have kept the peace because it slowly diminished anyway. And now? I’m struggling but I’m trying to undo all the wrong she’s done. And my life at school? Well, that’s a whole ‘nother story.

    P.S. I refrained from cussing because I’m not sure if that’s appropriate.

    • Lisi Harrison says:

      Right back at you, Kiana. You hated reading my blog and I hated reading your comment. I’m so sorry you had such a hard time with your parents. You’ve mentioned it before so there’s no doubt in my mind that pain and resentment are things you carry around with you every day.

      The good thing about being an adult is you get to make your own decisions and live the life you want, not the life your mother wants you to live. It sounds like you’re doing that and I’m happy for you. Stop looking back. Stay where your perfect feet are and try to be grateful for what they did give you. Not for them but for you. Gratitude feels better than anger.

      Wednesday challenge: Name something you are grateful for from your childhood using each letter of the alphabet. Yep, 26 things. Feel free to share it if you want. I’m not kidding. Do it!

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