Are you peculiar? Good! This is why you should embrace your weirdness

J.P. Sears is a guru completely different from all the others. In his YouTube videos, he mocks the things ‘spiritual’ people do – wearing the strangest head bands. Still, this fake guru can teach you some valuable lessons. For instance: how to embrace your own weirdness.

The value of weirdness

What’s the most special, precious thing you have in your life? According to Sears it’s your strange, weird qualities. The ones you’d rather not show to others, but that make you you.

Weird idols

Think of someone you admire. Can you name something about them that’s a bit weird, or at least peculiar? You probably can, because otherwise they wouldn’t have struck you as special. People who are good at something, let alone excellent, are seldom ‘average’ or unremarkable.

Don’t be a robot

The things Sears calls weirdness, are about expressing yourself. If you live a normal, average life, you live according to other people’s values and creativity – without embracing and exploring your craziness. That’s a shame, because it makes you a bit of a robot, dedicated to expressing other people’s creativity. Why not focus on your own?

In this TED talk, Sears explains how you can do that.

Photo: Priscilla DuPreez