The Wonders of Difference

Ever since I stumbled across the blog Cottage Garden Studio; hosted by gifted artist Sarah Sullivan, I've read it regularly. Some of you might remember that I won one of her giveaways earlier this year. Others have yet to read her sympathetic and insightful blog-posts.

She has a returning column called the Quilting Bee, which this time cut to the core on a very serious topic, yet again with a sense of warmth and recognition of the heart of the matter that I sometimes think go amiss when some people discuss "them". I am talking about kids and grown up people that fall under different categories such as asperger, ADHD, tourettes, OCD etcetera. It reminded me why I wrote about mental illnesses last month.

"Years of working with children and adults with autism, Aspergers, ADHD, mental issues, learning disabilities, my sincere belief is…we are truly missing something amazing here. That we need to start looking at these children as “Differently Gifted” rather than set them apart as abnormal."
- Quilting Bee # 16

This is a way of looking at things that I hope will spread. A perspective guided by being able to see potential instead of a static problem. I wouldn't for the world want to dismiss the care that therapeutic treatment and modern medicine can offer to better the life's of people who share some of these traits, there is however also a somewhat disturbing tendency to view anything that breaks the norm in human behavior as a problem, all under the guise that everybody should function in the same way.

This demand for normalcy, can create an enormous amount of pressure on kids and even grown people to adjust and fall into line with a notion of what is believed that everybody else functions and does. The real issue here to me, is that the image of what is normal can never translate into the enormous richness of the human experience. Not even close. If we recognize that everybody already is unique and different, I think this should invite to a sense of wonder and excitement.

In all honesty, everything that sets you apart from others can in unsupportive settings be considered a weakness and a problem. Some of us experienced bullying when growing up, and I know that there don't need to be any good reason for bullying to happen. Any reason would be fine.

And while some cry themselves to sleep in their kinder years for not being normal enough to be accepted by either their family, school or community, they might later grow up to be able to give some of the finest gifts to that could ever be asked for. Gifts that come from their own unique experiences which couldn't have come from anybody else. That which is shaped by the depths of their own being.