The internet and social media have brought huge changes to the world. They’ve allowed for global friendships, revealed divisions between people that may have been previously disguised, and provided us with the incredible communication enhancements that are memes and reaction gifs.
They have also unearthed one very important truth about humanity: we are all a bunch of #relatable weirdos.
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We all have those odd habits or ticks that we think we have to hide.
Like, this small thing we do is so weird and irrational that if we admitted it to anyone but our closest confidants, we’d be shunned.
I’m not even talking about big habits, like smoking or biting one’s nails.
I’m talking about tiny, irrational thoughts and actions that we think are weirder than they are.
For example, I always tap the top of a pop can with a fingernail before opening it.
It’s completely automatic now, but totally embarrasses me when a friend notices and asks about it.
When I was a kid, a family member told me that if you tapped the top, it would prevent the can from fizzing when you opened it. Being a kid, I believed it, and since statistically, very few cans have exploded on me in my lifetime, it has just stuck as a habit ever since.
And now my odd little tick is on the internet for the world to see.
I’m okay with that. Personally, I love that we can be open about these silly things now, because by normalizing talk about the small things, we allow for open discussion of more serious topics once considered taboo.
If we can all admit to our own irrational weirdness and see that such things are more common that we thought, then we can then feel comfortable admitting to our mental health struggles, exhaustion, or need for some emotional support.
Because all of that is just as #relatable as the little things, if we’d just be willing to share.
Last Updated on July 10, 2020 by Amy Pilkington
