“Abnormal”

© Apoorv Vikas

“Teacher?”
“Yes, my child?”
“Yesterday I told you something about me.”
“I remember.”
“Is it normal? The thing I told you about me?”
“What is ‘normal’, my child?”
“Well, something that has an order, a structure, a composure to it, is normal.”
“And that means, things that have no order or structure are abnormal, yes?”
“I believe so.”
“Very well. Tell me, child; do you see those mountains, far away?”
“Yes, teacher.”
“Do you see any order or structure to their shapes and sizes?”
“I must say, no. It’s all random.”
“Random? But last week your little brother painted a picture of the same mountains; and you praised it all day long.”
“Yes, teacher; because it all looked so beautiful in the picture. My brother had placed everything in a neat frame. The mountains, the trees, the skies… It was all well placed in a boundary.”
“There you go.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Frame. Placement. That’s the key, my dear.”
“Key?”
“Yes, the key that decides if things shall appear ordered or disordered; structured or chaotic; normal or abnormal.”
“Please elaborate.”
“We see things through a frame. Just as your brother chose to see those mountains in a specific frame, for a drawing. That frame defines how we place things and where. That placement pastes an ‘appearance’ over things; and we call them normal or abnormal, depending on what the frame shows. What most of us fail to remember, is that it’s us who choose that frame. Things make sense the way we make them make sense. And the frame changes subjectively, individually, from person to person. Some other artist might have chosen a different frame; and you might not have liked that picture that much. There’s no normal or abnormal in nature. It’s our choice of perspective that makes it so; and that perspective depends on which set of eyes are looking at things.”
“That’s new for me.”
“Instill it in your mind. That thing you told me about, yesterday, will be called normal by some; abnormal by others. Some will support; others will laugh; some will criticize and judge; others will stay indifferent. What matters is what you choose to say for yourself. It’s your life. Analyse what it is completely. Never rush to title it. Check all aspects; check your choices. Whatever you choose, fervently believe in that choice.”

© Apoorv Vikas
Counselor and Life Empowerment Coach
Nigdi Pune India

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