Have a Heartbeat? Well, You're Crazy Too!

OK. First, I am not insinuating that those of us living with a mental illness are crazy. Usually, we are not. What I am stating, is that too often it is assumed we are crazy. People hear the words "mentally ill" and sometimes they instinctively picture things like: homelessness, drooling, talking at inappropriate times or not talking at all, dirty bathrobes, dark hospital corridors and a trembling body.

And that makes me laugh in an evil sort of sarcastic sounding way. I do have an ugly bathrobe--I'm wearing it right now, unfortunately--and sometimes I do say inappropriate things. But that's because I'm me and I'm "weird" in my own way. Just like you are. But not because of my mental illness.

Here's what I think, and many sort of sincere apologies if it is deemed inappropriate: If you have a heartbeat, walk and talk, you're a little or a lot crazy too. That's just being human and I want to explore why.

Four Reason's Why We're all a Little Bit "Crazy"

I'm starting to really like lists. They're pretty damn neat, pardon the pun. It reminds me of being in college again; taking rapid-fire notes in class and organizing them into categorical lists once I arrived home. That might have been a little bit weird?

And so here it is, four reasons why we are all a little bit off our rocker (even your neighbor who seems so sane he/or she is probably very boring):

• Some of us read ridiculous celebrity magazines and really take a vested interested in things like: Summer fashions of 2013 (!), the birth of Kim Kardashian's child, zombie movies, high protein diets, The Bachelorette (surely I am not the only one who watches this?), paying $6 for a coffee and pretending that it's worth it. And no I am not just listing off my eccentricities. I'm not a huge fan of $6 coffee. Or protein diets (you cannot eat a lot of chocolate apparently).

• We tend to judge people upon first glance. And don't tell me you don't do this. It's ingrained in our society. I'm not sure we can really avoid it, but in my not so humble opinion, it's kind of crazy.

• On a more serious note: Human beings have a fantastic ability to keep our eyes half-closed when the world is in crisis. Global warming? A war that seems it won't ever end? Stigmatizing minorities? Often, people pretend that the serious issues don't really exist. We can watch the news and then we can turn it off and get back to life. And that's kind of crazy, but it's also human.

• We strive for this rather ominous state of mind: Happiness. We don't often define what it is and what it means in our life. We just want it. Sometimes, we pretend we have it. Even when we are not happy. Human beings are fantastic at self-sabotage. We want things but often don't want to work to get them. We can believe that the things we want in life will land in our lap.

In summary: The next time someone calls you crazy, ask them what they think of the impact global warming has. It's likely you will be met with a fair bit of silence or---and this is fun--an intelligent conversation. Or talk about reality TV and that new Brad Pitt movie that I won't pretend I will not see.

Let's conclude this with a fun quote:

"I think we're all mentally ill; those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little better (and maybe not that much better after all)."