“I hope I’m getting more eccentric. More brain space.”
Musician Tom Waits
Several artists acknowledge that being unconventional is a good thing.
Reese Witherspoon has said that her parents supported her ambitions to be an actress and that, growing up in Nashville, “being a Southern eccentric was the biggest influence on my family. The standard was’ How weird can you be? “
Many people considered gifted and talented can be seen as eccentric, based on their personal style or behavior that, like their talent, is outside the social norms.
According to historian Daniel J. Boorstin, for example, Beethoven’s apartments numbered over 60 as he kept moving into a new one, as Boorstin mentioned in his book “The Creators.”
Jane Goodall, the renowned primatologist, commented in an interview that during the previous nine years the longest she has been in one place was three weeks.
Such a propensity for unusual living arrangements is a sign of being an eccentric, according to neuropsychologist David Weeks in his book “Eccentrics: A Study in Sanity and Strangeness.”
The title is indicative of the dominant society’s ambivalence about those on the outer margins, a society that has historically relegated people with unknown or suspicious talents to the fringes of culture in some way, if not residence. involuntary in an institution.
Vincent Van Gogh commented on some of the negative attitudes he experienced: “What am I in the eyes of most people, an insignificant, an eccentric or an unpleasant person? Someone who has no position in society and never does. will have. Someday I would like to show with my work what an eccentric, such nobody has in his heart “.
In an interview with a newspaper, writer Michael Dwyer commented on another type of social reaction towards eccentric individuals: “Several people warned me about Tim Burton. He is decidedly eccentric, they whispered, totally wrapped up in his wild imagination and therefore, very difficult to understand. interview. “
But Dwyer went on to say: “Maybe they were confusing the man with his films, because they were wrong. Burton proved charming, very talkative and full of enthusiasm, when we recently met in London.”
People have commented on Lord of the Rings series director Peter Jackson being “a genuine eccentric who shows up for interviews without shoes or socks while looking more like a Hobbit than a human.”
Fortunately, Burton and Jackson have exploited their “wild imaginations” to the delight of many of us.
For those who are talented and able to participate in their choice and willingness to follow their unique visions, even at the risk of being labeled strange, weird, or eccentric, their vitality and health may improve.
Dr. Weeks states that, far from being aberrant and unhappy, eccentrics “experience much lower levels of stress because they don’t feel the need to adapt.”
Another example is inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen. An article in a British newspaper described him as a “visionary freak” who still manages to stand out as a truly brilliant eccentric.
The self-taught billionaire is the holder of more than 150 patents and has received dozens of honorary degrees. And it holds “the world record for the longest uninterrupted period of denim wear.”
Perhaps we can all more passionately follow our own unique visions and contribute our talents by being as eccentric as we want to be.
