Be a Weirdo

“Blessed are the weird people: poets, misfits, writers, mystics, painters, troubadours for they teach us to see the world through different eyes.” ― Jacob Nordby, Pearls of Wisdom: 30 Inspirational Ideas to live your best life now

It is so important to embrace yourself, yet society sends a very direct message that different is not better. Why are we conforming? I am lucky to be a teaching artist because I get to go to schools as an artist-in-residence and writer-in-residence where being different is the whole point. I get to work with students in a non-traditional manner and celebrate their individuality in their writing and personality. 

I say, embrace your inner (or outer) weirdo. Weird makes people wonder. I am not saying be ridiculous -- just real. I really enjoy reading blog posts from The Human Workplace led by Liz Ryan. She is a human resources expert and has worked in the field for decades. She is always talking about how important it is to be real and to show your personality in your professional life. She talks about zombie resumes and corporate zombie speak. She challenges us to embrace our personality in the job search and the workplace.

Don't get me wrong, there have been plenty of times I wished I had reined it in a little. In fact, I am coming out of the artist closet more and more each day. I am also embracing my calling as an entrepreneur, business owner, teaching artist, and writer. As most people know, it is very difficult to make a living wage as an artist or writer. So I have decided to follow my entrepreneurial calling -- starting my own business. Brick Scholars is a mobile STEAM lab that serves both children in enrichment programs and adults in corporate workshops. I was a teacher for fifteen years. I decided to leave the classroom as a teacher because I felt I had plateaued. I also felt I was not fulfilling my true passion -- teaching people about the craft of creative writing, the creative process, and how creativity fuels innovation.

For years, I kept my writing and creativity on the down low, but I always identified as a writer and creative. Now I embrace it because I don't have anymore time to waste. It took me a long time to be brave enough to be who I really am. 

I remember having an assistant principal (who later got demoted back to the classroom for his incompetence as an administrator -- perfect example of the Peter Principle) call me into his office early in my teaching career. He beat around the bush and finally came out with, "We need you to teach differently." I replied, "How?" He didn't have the words. A long pause passed between us. Common sense kicked in and I said, "Do you want me to read from a textbook and give out worksheets?" He almost jumped out of his seat and high-fived me. He exclaimed, "Yes. Yes we do." Let me give you some background... 

I had been busted by the school counselor and some other administrative people for taking my special education students out for what I called recess at a middle school. It was a beautiful day. No wind in Wyoming -- which is rare. The students finished up an assessment and another student was finishing up an assignment. I was fresh off the college boat and had no clue what a fishbowl I was teaching in. I had just returned from living on the East Coast and attending college in Providence, Rhode Island to a small town in Wyoming (well, it's the biggest city in the state so many think it's a big town) where I was an all-state high school athlete, so I guess they remembered who I was. I drove a forest green Ford Fairmont wallpapered with bumper stickers from a post college cross-country road trip. Wall Drugstore. Indy 500. Ed Debevik's Diner. A Wyoming Arts Council yellow and brown bumper sticker that said, "Art is everywhere." And my personal favorite, a Dr. Seuss sticker that said, "No Time to Hate" and another favorite, "Mean People Suck." I was 23. To be young and green and drive a green Ford Fairmont...

I wouldn't do it differently. I still would take those students outside and let them be kids. I probably wouldn't do it near the front offices or in the front of the school. I'd still bring the superball (and set up equations to calculate the distance and patterns) and the bubbles (we'd do an estimation lesson) and let them have some fun. Because in my heart of hearts, I believe kids learn when they are having fun and that kids learn by hands-on activities. To be honest, it was an awful match as I taught math and it was middle school. My college degree was in elementary education and special education. My next teaching job was at an in inner-city school in Southern California. My administrator believed in creativity in the classroom, but helped me focus in on the standards and I grew in that position. I also failed in that position too. But that's learning and it's OK to fail.

The thing is -- my students remembered me and probably still do. I was the weirdo teacher who did things differently (throughout my career as a teacher). It took me almost a decade to conform, but little by little my free spirit wings got clipped. When I realized they were barely stubs anymore, I left the traditional classroom and created my own -- Brick Scholars and my work as a STEAM teaching artist.

Back to that awful conversation with the administrator who fell asleep during my observation... I sat in his office, dressed in a vintage outfit I found at a thrift store (OK, I totally remember -- I was wearing brown platform Mary Jane shoes that I purchased at a store called Wild Pair at the Providence, Rhode Island mall, a 1940's vintage black blazer with a mink fur collar and raging brown bell bottoms) and almost burst into tears. I held it together as I looked at him curiously trying to figure out what he was getting at. He said, "We need you to teach more traditionally." I look at him confused and then a light went off (perhaps a sixties gold floor map) and I asked him (grateful he had not fallen asleep like he did in my formal observation), "Do you want me to teach from a textbook and hand out worksheets?" His eyes lit up and he responded, "Yes. That is exactly what I mean."

So, what is the point of this post? Be a weirdo and don't be afraid to fail. Let youth guide you on the unguided trail because you will look back and be grateful for the failures because those are the lessons we learn from to become successful in the future. I don't think there is a way around failing when you are young. It is part of the process. No shortcuts. No quick answers -- just the school of hard knocks. When you graduate, you wear your cap and gown proud.