A Note To My “Extra” Special People

This post is a love note to my extra special people.

You know who you are!

The hipster word I love to fling into conversations is extra.

As in: I’m/You’re so extra and why it’s better to lean in to your uniqueness.

What the hell does it mean?

Embracing yourself.

If you’re extra, or if someone is so extra, it means that they/you are dramatic or over the top – as in way too much for polite society.

Extra.

I say, as one constantly told I am too much (which basically means that I make folks uncomfortable in my rock solid confidence in myself), if you are extra you are simply embracing yourself.

Embrace yourself meaning:

What does it mean to embrace yourself?

It means that you have the wisdom to understand that no one is alike and that very fact makes folks uncomfortable, but you, YOU!, love who you are and you will not be made to fit into anyone’s expectations of the right or wrong of who you are.

You are doing you, in all your individual uniqueness.

Embrace your uniqueness.

• It can be difficult to be a fishy swimming against the tide.
• It can be unnerving to enter a room of suits in flip flops and sun-wear.
• It can be intimidating to quote Dr Seuss among the crowd elite.
• It can be sigh-producing to order an ice cold bottleneck beer at a table of teetotalers.

Yet…it is also liberating to embrace what makes you different.

Note to my extra special people:

Even after the above encouragement, if you are still feeling you must hide your extra special shine under the proverbial bushel, keep reading.

My entire life has been extra, from the moment I first made The German sick from within her womb, to this week, snapping my fangers in defiance of those who wish to quiet the extra in others.

And you know what? I’m perfectly fine with how I move through this life; I am extra.

I’m satisfied with that; I offer that you should be, too.

There is no shame (no matter who would like to say there is) in being you.

What starts out as a dig, I turns into a compliment, yo.

People who judge, should be so lucky to be as extra as we.

Since I was but a wee child of extra, I’ve had people tell me to be less, to be smaller, to be, well, less extra.

All the nopes, baby.

Can extra people, special people, even be something smaller than they are?

I think if you tried, you’d make yourself literally sick.

1. Headaches
2. Stomach problems
3. Thinning hair
4. Digestive issues
5. Depression
6. Overcompensating
7. Membership in food boxes
8. Avoiding family and friends
9. Joining the Pizza of the Day Club
10. Always pulling your car into the garage and shutting the door behind you to avoid neighbors

Obviously, #7, #9, and #10 are NOT jokes, but they sound funny.

If you find yourself doing any of the above (again, with the exception or 7,9, and 10), you are buying into someone else’s view of who you are.

Do you ever wish you didn’t feel pressured to dim your extra?

STOP IT!

STOP HIDING YOUR SHINE!

Will a permission slip help?

A permission slip for my extra special people:

To Whom it May Concern,

____________ is extra today.

Deal with it.

Hugs, Kisses, and Jazzy Jazz Hands,

Patti

My life has featured a steady stream of uncomfortable folk telling me to accommodate those around me that fear my extra. You know, for their sake, not mine.

Uh-huh.

Even before all the nopes became a thang, it’s exactly what I did. With a hard eye-roll for emphasis.

I actually felt sorry for those who wished me less than I was, because it spoke more to their lack of self-acceptance than mine.

You can’t control how others believe the world should look or what is gonna bother them. If they no likey the extra in front of them, let ’em keep walking.

That’s what I do. Pretty simple.

I can’t imagine this world without all the extra souls. Not the mass of souls, as in a number – the extra souls.

If it helps to focus your confidence, make a list of the extra people who encourage you by their stories.

My short list of amazing extras.

These are some of the folks who’ve encouraged me to embrace me:

Jesus (The actual – LITERAL – son of God, who is…wait for it…ALSO God?! Dude, please, you so extra.)

Einstein (Wormhole what? Time travel what? Your hair matches your extra touch of crazy, son.)

The Wright brothers (NO! Men have feet for a reason! There are no extra wings for you. Oh, wait…)

Susan B. Anthony (Momma, you are one of the main reasons I vote ever’ danged time I can. Extra extra, vote all about it!)

Annie Oakley (She promoted the idea that women should learn to shoot as a means of self-protection, in an age where that kinda talk made you the extra special target of the civilized world.)

Margaret Thatcher (When iron wants to be extra tough, it adds Margaret Thatcher.)

Imagine, for a hot minute, if these ladies and gentlemen had listened to anyone who was made uncomfortable by their being over the top, with their extra-ordinary ideas and schemes of wonder.

Imagine how much less color and brilliance there would be in the world without their voices.

Bring us the extra special people of this world!

The world needs your difference for balance and weight.

We need a world where there are vast differences and a sea of voices that clash.

We need pastels and deep jewels tones.

We need rock and roll and mystical monk chants.

We need a yin to the yang.

In my Father’s house, there is room for all.

We need to understand and accept that those who change the world, must have an extra-ordinary sense of the seemingly impossible, even, ESPECIALLY!, in the face of doubt and fear of others.

We need your unique and spellbinding extra!

As you are well aware, not everyone has the constitution to pull all that extra off, so the next time someone is annoyed by your extra special you-ness, take a hot minute and remember my list of wonderfully weird edge-pushers, then make your own.

Let them give you the strength to be comfortable in your skin – no matter the naysayers of the world.

Extra Special People Unite!

I hope if you have ever doubted your uniqueness that this post helps to spark your you-ness again.

Let me know what you think, if you have something to add, or who your extra role-model is – hell leave us your list!

Share with us in the comments!