HELLO!

As I get older, I find these rainy days prompt reflection, even flashbacks.

There are moments in our life when things become clear, and not always in a comforting or affirming way. My mother spoke to me one summer about a camp being offered on the Dalhousie campus. Would I want to participate? Back then I was always interested in being with groups of people, particularly if sports or physical activity was part of the plan. I spent a week on the campus, and sure enough, there were games, street hockey, soccer baseball, relays, etc… I recall wondering why it was so easy for me to score, to be first, to win. Then, because of my hyperactivity diagnosis (note, I am not diagnosed with ADHD as my ability to focus is very acute) I was enrolled in every organized sport in HRM. So I was used to competing against other boys my age and therefore had a sense of where I fit in by comparison (I tended to excel at sports with hand-eye coordination and do poorly in activity where being coordinated with your feet was required). But here, I was easily the best athlete.

One night I was sitting in front of the television watching ATV News and a story was presented about a new program at Dal, a grad student was interviewed, “We have invited parents to send us their adolescent children who present as having some form of disability, be it mental or physical, and we are examining how sports and games can be adapted to their needs”. As I he was speaking they showed the other kids, who carried themselves like the students in my school who attended “special needs” classes. And then…there I was. It dawned on me…my parents were curious if I was a “special needs” student. It was obvious, given how easily I scored and won races, I had no business being in that group, but then again, maybe there were other reasons I should be there.

I present as “most people”, someone who can blend in and not be identified in any special category or with a diagnosis. But there is an eccentricity in my character that those who know me best are fully aware of. That aspect of my personality has been a magnet to other eccentrics. When I leave churches, typically the one group within the church who miss me are this constituency. But it can also rub some people the wrong way. I remember when the TV show “Big Bang Theory” was popular, people began to tell me, “That show is about you”. I watched it once and was not amused. It struck me then, this series attracts people who are more conventional than me, who like to laugh at eccentrics. I have noted over the years, when eccentrics like me push back, and tease more conventional people, “Why do you state the obvious so often” those on the receiving end are not happy. I wonder if they ponder their inconsistency? As I get older, I am happy to celebrate my eccentricity, I consider it a gift God has given me. But when teased, I will tease back. The “stating of the obvious”, the need to be conventional, is as odd to me as my eccentricity is to others. More thoughts on a rainy day.

Peace, Kevin

PS My favorite quote “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you odd” (based on John 10:10). The words come from novelist Flannery O’Connor, an eccentric Catholic who lived in the south. Afflicted with lupus, she died at 40. She lived alone, with a collection of peacocks.