Being "different" -mutants and stuff.
So, what does it mean to be different anyway? And are there really such a thing as being "normal"? Since I was very young I have been in a wheelchair, and a lot of people seem to think that that's almost as different as it's possible to be. A lot of people pity you, and have all kinds of strange notions about what it means to be in such a situation. Thankfully though, there are a lot of people who just treat you as an equal as well, and who doesn't make a big deal about the fact that you roll around on your wheels instead of walking around on your legs. Because who needs pity anyways? Not me, and not the other people I know and have met who happens to be in such a situation. If you have the practical tools you need to make life work around you, it doesn't have to be a big deal not to be able to walk around in the world instead of rolling. As long as I am rockin' and rollin', that's the most important thing to me.
And as it so happens I have had a lot of other experiences in my life, which people coincidentally can't see when looking at me, that have in a way been far more challenging than whats physically apparent to the world -which is the case for so many others as well. What I have experienced though, and in a way find odd and in other ways not, is that more often than not it seems that people who chooses alternative lifestyles (like I have done myself) seems to have an easier time looking upon me as an equal -I guess it's the power of recognition that is the reason for that and in some ways I suppose it's just logical. Because I'm not just "different" due to my disability, I'm "different" on account of my look, my interests and my way of life as well, and my equals when it comes to those things seems to be able to see past a chair much easier than it seems to be for the "regular people" (to quote some Pantera). Maybe it's because a lot of those people are also used to being viewed as outsiders. And perhaps it's much the feeling of being a community, across borders, seas and parts of the world. And those things can be powerful I guess.
But sometimes I catch myself thinking: those people who look like like regular people, walk like regular people, talk like regular people, what REALLY goes on in their minds when no one is looking? Are they really so regular after all, if one knew what went on in the deep of their souls? Are they just pretending to be "normal"? And is that why it can scare them when people are "different" from them, or so it seems? Are they afraid of being found out? I myself could hardly pretend to be something I'm not, even if I tried for the life of me, so already when I was very young I decided it was no point in trying either.
After all, when people ask me why I'm in a wheelchair, the answer for that question itself is probably a lot different than what people expect. I simply tell them I'm a mutant. It's hilarious when people get all weird when I tell them that, and have no idea what they're gonna say. But what's way more cool is when people DON'T get all weird about it, and think it's the coolest thing they've heard, and we start talking about super heroes and so forth; that's when I know I've come across some people who take me for face value.Oh, what's the REAL reason for me being in a wheelchair? Well, that's the funny thing, because I really AM a mutant; at least I have a mutated gene, so I'm kind of waiting for the X-men people to turn up at my door one of these days to help me find the true potential of my kick ass super powers ;-)
So, what does it mean to be different anyway? And are there really such a thing as being "normal"? Since I was very young I have been in a wheelchair, and a lot of people seem to think that that's almost as different as it's possible to be. A lot of people pity you, and have all kinds of strange notions about what it means to be in such a situation. Thankfully though, there are a lot of people who just treat you as an equal as well, and who doesn't make a big deal about the fact that you roll around on your wheels instead of walking around on your legs. Because who needs pity anyways? Not me, and not the other people I know and have met who happens to be in such a situation. If you have the practical tools you need to make life work around you, it doesn't have to be a big deal not to be able to walk around in the world instead of rolling. As long as I am rockin' and rollin', that's the most important thing to me.
And as it so happens I have had a lot of other experiences in my life, which people coincidentally can't see when looking at me, that have in a way been far more challenging than whats physically apparent to the world -which is the case for so many others as well. What I have experienced though, and in a way find odd and in other ways not, is that more often than not it seems that people who chooses alternative lifestyles (like I have done myself) seems to have an easier time looking upon me as an equal -I guess it's the power of recognition that is the reason for that and in some ways I suppose it's just logical. Because I'm not just "different" due to my disability, I'm "different" on account of my look, my interests and my way of life as well, and my equals when it comes to those things seems to be able to see past a chair much easier than it seems to be for the "regular people" (to quote some Pantera). Maybe it's because a lot of those people are also used to being viewed as outsiders. And perhaps it's much the feeling of being a community, across borders, seas and parts of the world. And those things can be powerful I guess.
But sometimes I catch myself thinking: those people who look like like regular people, walk like regular people, talk like regular people, what REALLY goes on in their minds when no one is looking? Are they really so regular after all, if one knew what went on in the deep of their souls? Are they just pretending to be "normal"? And is that why it can scare them when people are "different" from them, or so it seems? Are they afraid of being found out? I myself could hardly pretend to be something I'm not, even if I tried for the life of me, so already when I was very young I decided it was no point in trying either.
After all, when people ask me why I'm in a wheelchair, the answer for that question itself is probably a lot different than what people expect. I simply tell them I'm a mutant. It's hilarious when people get all weird when I tell them that, and have no idea what they're gonna say. But what's way more cool is when people DON'T get all weird about it, and think it's the coolest thing they've heard, and we start talking about super heroes and so forth; that's when I know I've come across some people who take me for face value.Oh, what's the REAL reason for me being in a wheelchair? Well, that's the funny thing, because I really AM a mutant; at least I have a mutated gene, so I'm kind of waiting for the X-men people to turn up at my door one of these days to help me find the true potential of my kick ass super powers ;-)