Threads seems to be my new "thing".

Today's thread is about threading the normal needle.

Throughout my life, I've worked really hard to try to be what I think people feel is normal.

Thread 👇👇👇
I've been called many things during my life.

Some are very positive. Kind, funny, smart, empathetic, enthusiastic, compassionate, eloquent, inquisitive, and giving.

Some were hurtful. Fat, quirky, weird, odd, stupid, ugly, impulsive, rude, stubborn, addict, and strange.
I'm a hardcore people watcher. I just never realized how much I observe others to learn how I should act, react, be, talk, move, interact, and fit in. I didn't realize that people watching is a way to teach myself how to be less quirky (more "normal").
Some of the beatings I got as a kid was my Dad's way of getting me to be less quirky. To fit in, to be less embarrassing. As I reflect on all of this, it strikes me how many of us beat ourselves everyday. How much we criticize our selves and tune into the criticism of others.
I'm known for my love of the dancing robots videos. They are entertaining and are a technological marvel. But in the end, they are programmed. They can only do what others tell them to do. There is a limit to their uniqueness.
When we try to eliminate our quirks to conform to someone else's definition of normal, we are removing our human side and letting ourselves be programmed by others, just like those robots are programmed.
As a society we should criticize others less and compliment them more. Find a strength in someone and talk about that. It is our individualism, our uniqueness, and our amazing quirks that make each of us standout and contribute to the variety that makes life interesting.
Go ahead talk, sing, dance, build, run, paint, stim, laugh loudly, crack jokes, cry, smile, bake, create, write, twirl, read, think deeply, dive right in, stick to your guns, find your roots, enjoy others, spend time alone... just do you. I love you just the way you are.

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More from @imaracingmom

19 Jul
Thanks @lmstroud89 for sending me the story of a mother and her son. Pain knows no income levels. Kids from all walks of life experience pain. Some of the pain is so deep, those kids need an out. It breaks my heart this happens to so many of our kids. (Links in the comments)
Read 4 tweets
19 Jul
Don't roll your eyes at me! Yes, this is another thread!
We in the THR world are confronted with the message everyday about the need to "save the children". For years, I've said to save our kids (from all kinds of bad things), we need to stop passing stupid laws and address...
... the elephant in the room. #WHY??? Sure, some kids just do stuff. They experiment, they rebel, they give in to peer pressure. But what about the rest of the kids? The ones who are so much more than "just a risk taker"? The invisible kids? The ones we pretend we can't see???
Kids who struggle with #MentalHealth issues. Kids who have the shit beat out of them by their loved ones. Kids growing up in poverty. The hungry kids. The kids without medical care. The kids struggling in school. The kids who are bullied constantly. The kids without friends.
Read 11 tweets
17 Jul
Dear people pointing the "Big Tobacco Shill" finger at people like me...
Thread 👇
Smoking killed my grandpa. The man who loved me to the ends of the earth. The man who never raised a hand to hit me. The man who taught me there are good men in the world. The man who accepted me for who I was.
Smoking killed my grandmother. The woman who made sure that us kids had some decent clothes while mom was struggling to support us on our own. The woman who packed us kids in her camper and took us on great adventures. The woman who taught us modesty and humility.
Read 31 tweets
15 Jul
A little excitement in the great north woods tonight.
Earlier we had what might have been a wolf. I'm not aware of having those here. I'll have to Google it.
Google says yes, we do have wolves in this area. There's a swamp behind our 15 acres. We're in the middle of a drought. I'm guessing animals will be moving about looking for water. I'd go for a walk to see if there's water in the swamp, but that's the direction the bear went.
Read 4 tweets
13 Apr
Thread:
Something some people don't know about me.
One of my passions in life is motorsports. One of the people I admire in that industry is Don Prudhomme.
hotrod.com/articles/the-d…
Message boards used to be a huge deal and I participated in several racing ones. One year well known photographer, Les Welch, asked me to work as a reporter at the NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, MN. Les was a great guy.

competitionplus.com/drag-racing/ne…
Pro-Stock racers Warren and son, Kurt, Johnson were from MN. I was a fan. I chatted often on the message boards often with Warren's wife, Arlene. She was a very cool lady. Les told Arlene I was working for him for a weekend and she insisted we meet. Les set up the meeting.
Read 14 tweets
8 Apr
In the last week we've seen CTFK's #TakeDownTobacco and PAVe's #ClearTheVapor. Lot's of conflating of smoking and vaping along with vaping nicotine and tons of other things (Pot, vitamins, etc.). Tons of support for flavor bans. As time permits, this will turn into a thread.
Years ago, all flavors in combustible cigarettes were banned, except menthol. Why did that happen? Who helped big tobacco keep menthol cigarettes?

web.archive.org/web/2011121107… Image
Why is it that Matt Myers of CTFK would sit down to find common ground with #BigTobacco to negotiate tobacco regulations, but he makes no effort to work with #TobaccoHarmReduction?

rollcall.com/2004/10/04/how…
Read 18 tweets

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