Idiosyncrasies make you pretty

I'm chronically depressed. The official diagnosis came when I was at the tender age of 15. At the time it was called "manic depression", though it is now called "bi-polar disorder". I used anti-depressants for a short time when I was 24. Up to that point, I didn't want to try them. I am not a huge fan of medication in any form, so the thought of trying something pharmaceutical is far less appealing than actually dealing w/ random bouts of depression. But once my Granny died, I just couldn't cope with anything. I was absolutely lost. So I took the Wellbutrin prescribed by my doctor and against his orders, quit taking it 3 months later. Call me crazy, but I really think that stuff caused me permanent ADD. I'm not kidding, my ability to focus is next to nil and that was never an issue before I took those meds. But I digress.

I'm currently in the midst of a bout of depression & therefore hate myself most of the time. But today I had a thought occur to me that wasn't entirely comprised of negative statements about myself. I thought about the silly little habits that make me who I am. And after I finished marveling at how great it felt to think about myself in a way that wasn't derogatory, it made me want to encourage any who read this to take this opportunity to let your freak flag fly!

It is, after all, our little eccentricities that make us unique. Too many times we try to conceal them b/c they're not "normal", but what we fail to realize is that everyone has them. Some stranger than others, but who cares?! Why can't we flaunt our quirks? Why can't we embrace them and share them and laugh about them?

Here are some of my nuttier traits. I hope you'll get a chuckle and feel compelled to share yours.

* I have a weird relationship w/ tomatoes. (Get your mind out of the gutter. I mean how I eat tomatoes. I don't have some sick fruit-that-is-confused-with-a-veggie fetish. Also, WTF would I do w/ a tom.....you know what, never mind. Forget I asked.) I can eat tomatoes on a sandwich or salad as long as there is a lot of spinach or lettuce. If there is no leafy green goodness, the taste of a tomato makes me gag. Also, I only like the big tomatoes. You can keep those disgusting little cherry or grape tomatoes. Blech.

* Another food quirk: spinach. I LOVE it fresh, but can't stand it cooked. Unless it's cooked into lasagna or something like that. Just plain old cooked spinach? No freakin' way!!

* The number 8 is my favorite. I don't know why or how that came to be, it just is & I tend not to question these things.

* I had a blanket when I was a kid that I called my "rubby" blanket. It was one of those blankets that had the silky border across the top. I named it my "rubby" b/c whenever I was near it, I'd have to grab that silky border & rub it back-and-forth between my finger & thumb. Think that's weird? I also have to do it in sequences of 8. Think that's beyond the acceptable realm of quirky? I also have to end w/ my thumb up & my finger down. I'm serious.

* This one kind of goes along w/ the last one, my ex-husband left my rubby blanket in Arkansas b/c he hated my rubby habit. He said it was childish. That is still one of the things that I'll never forgive him for. I had that blanket since I was a baby & he knew how much it meant to me, but he left it behind b/c it bothered him. However, the first time I spent the night w/ my current husband, I may or may not have decided I would one day marry him b/c he had a rubby blanket. (That and he had a Salad Shooter. Those were two huge marks in his favor.)

* Also, you should know that I split those last 2 bullet points out b/c I hate large paragraphs. This coming from the queen of run-on sentences & novella-length blog posts. Sorry, but I hate big paragraphs!! (Which is why the first paragraph of this post is really driving me nuts right now!)

That is just a little glimpse into my idiosyncratic personality. It's true that I may be insane, but I'm a lovable kind of insane.