How extraordinary came to be.

I go through a personal tale to explain how the word extraordinary came to be. Bear with me and enjoy reading this! If not, feel free to read this instead.

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As a ten-year-old, I always wondered how calling someone extraordinary was a compliment. Why was being more normal considered to be a great thing, and is that what my goal should be? To be a little more of everything that we all are? Apparently, yes. I was a fat kid with chubby cheeks who always had a smile on his face. I cried a lot and laughed even more. As a kid, I could run out of time in a game of Antakshri and still giggle. Pretty women and their hair flips, lipsticks and kind smiles fascinated me. I could play all day and still remember to complete my to-do list. 

• Love mom and dad.
• Spend time with my sister.
• Play!

Eight years, a thousand memories and a heartbreak later, I have commitment issues. Deadlines drive me crazy and I barely get any sleep (even if I sleep a lot, nightmares). I still spend my time thinking about things and people who don’t matter, so I guess that stayed from my childhood. I don’t have a place to call home except for blurry memories and poetry because I shift a lot. Despite all this, I am smiling whenever I can and giggling at all the inside jokes I share with my sister.

Just like almost every other human being in the 21st century, I have my insecurities. My flaws are usually just an exaggerated version of the most common flaws humans share. I fear heights and darkness, I often wonder if I am good looking, I flirt way a lot and break hearts. In every sense, I am a little extra ordinary. My strengths are also usually a story told with a few tweaks to sound good. I observe a little more than normal and I feel a little more than ordinary. I know how to find feelings in a forest of numbness and how to find smiles in a sea of tears. I look at stars when I can, and follow my goals whenever possible.

And yet, I know I am usually worthy of things I hear people say, be it ‘You are a great writer’ or ‘You’re so cute’ or ‘I don’t like you’. We all know we are special in our own ways, quite like our fingerprints. But the real fight is in accepting you are normal too accepting you will have flaws that make you special and flaws that make you normal. A war takes place inside all of us, on the field of empty hearts and ribcages. The key word in this is ‘all of us’. We all share a few things that make us normal, and that is why we all possess the potential of being extraordinary.

It is okay to be completely normal. It is okay if you settle there too if that brings a genuine wide grin on your face. But don’t sit idle and be normal if you don’t like it. Don’t find pride in being normal to give yourself false satisfaction. The world needs both, but the world needs honesty more. Be honest with yourself, be normal, and be a little extra. That is exactly what poetry is made of.

I am not saying I am extraordinary and you aren’t. I am saying that I accept I am not, and so I will become it. If you don’t accept it, you will not. Add a little extra to all your ordinaries and let’s hope we all become extraordinary someday.

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Instagram handle: @myspirals
Previous post: Sometimes I sit idle.
Related post: It is okay.

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