Uniformity and the Drive to be "Normal"

Hey, MisWired here. And today, I’m going to take a bit of a detour. Usually I talk about things I have experienced during my journey with ADHD, Bipolar and mental health in general. Today, not so much. As I was doing research into my conditions, and reading other people’s experiences in general, one thing has stuck out to me. Society has this obsession with conformity and being “normal”. We try to fit people into one of the many boxes that we have created to make sense of the world. So much that when we meet someone that doesn’t neatly fit into one of those boxes, we expect them to change until they do. And it got me thinking, if we allowed people to be themselves, what would be the worst that could happen? For example, I’m horrible when it comes to academic writing, assignments and exams. Would it be hard to gauge me on my strengths, such as participation in class, rather than my weaknesses? I know a lot of people who would think I’m just being lazy, but sometimes we need to build up on strengths and not just stick to what we think is a good measurement of a person’s ability. Let’s be honest, if a lot of people like me were tied to our performances in school, the world would have a lot of average people. I know I thought I was due to my performance in school. And I never got why I couldn’t perform like everyone else. That was my biggest mistake. Instead of finding something that worked for me, I tried to take something that worked for someone else expecting it to work for me.

As a society, I think we have failed in bringing out the best in others. Especially when the other person has a mental disability. Instead of trying to help them find out what works for them, we label them as lazy, insist that they are not living up to their potential, then call it a day, proud of ourselves because we think we’ve done some good. Yet all we’ve done is drive them further into darkness and loneliness because they can’t understand why they can’t seem to live up to expectations. I used to be that person, and some days, I still am. Instead of trying to live up to what everyone else expects of me, I try to do things that I find fun, as much as people would like to say that I’m not being realistic. But when I do things I find fun, I tend to be more productive. That’s why I feel like we should not put someone down just because they aren’t doing things the way you would. Rather, try to see it from their point of view. Try to do things that they find enjoyable, and maybe you would learn something new.