I don't like sunglasses
They make the world darker, and I love the sun. I don't want to make the world darker anymore than it already is. Give me light.
People are like, "But Greg, doesn't the sun get in your eyes?" And my response is decidedly no. You know how I manage that? I don't look at the sun directly. Problem solved.
I'll stare at a carpet in silence for a half hour straight
Why? I'm using my imagination. I like to stare at the carpet and imagine that each fiber is a tree in a forest. I think about why each fiber (or tree) is pointing the direction it's pointing. Did the wind blow it that way? Did it grow out of the ground that way?
I imagine where the carpet meets the hardwood floor is the border between the forest and the dirt plains. Each grain in the wood is a mountain or a trail or a road. Which road would I take if I was 100 times smaller? Which mountain looks the hardest to climb and why?
Have you ever heard the phrase, "bored people are boring"? Although not as pithy, it is more accurately, "bored people don't know how to properly entertain themselves". Anything and anyone is interesting if you focus enough of your attention on it.
Try staring at the floor for 5 minutes in silence. I mean really stare at it. Examine it closely. If you only see a floor, then go develop your imagination. The world needs it.
What else could you make interesting if you genuinely focused your attention on it?
Cows and ducks are my favorite animals
I mean have you ever watched a duck waddle along the ground while quacking and not laughed? But they are so graceful in the water. A reminder that we all have our special thing that we are good at.
And cows are just so unconcerned. They sit there in the field all day chewing grass, swatting flies with their tails, and just mooing away. If you come up to them, they don't care. I wish I had that level of not giving a moo.
I don't read or watch the news
Most mass media like newspapers, nightly newscasts, and online clickbait articles is designed to scare you, not to deliver relevant information. These are businesses trying to make money and fear mongering sells.
You may have heard the phrase, "Garbage in, garbage out" meaning if you put garbage into the system, then the system gives you back garbage. If you feed your mind with negativity by ingesting news, then negativity is what you will spread as you move through the world.
People say, "But Greg, don't you want to be a good global citizen?" or "Don't you want to know what is happening in the world?" Well someone once said to me, "If something truly important happens, someone will tell you." That made a lot of sense to me, and in the 5+ years I haven't watched the news, never once have I felt like I was missing anything important.
I will drive around and get lost on purpose
Everyone needs a little adventure in their life. That's what makes life fun and interesting. Sometimes adventure comes knocking on your door, and other times you have to create it.
When I get lost, it means I have found somewhere that I haven't explored yet, some unknown territory. That's exciting. And then finding my way back home is also exciting because I have to rely on my skills and determination to find the way.
So in the words of the great James Stanton, "Get lost, kid."
I have fake wrestling matches with my pillows from time to time
But Greg, you are an adult man that is far too old to be doing something dumb like that! No, you are never too old to have fun and be silly. When you stop having fun, your life becomes joyless. It becomes drudgery.
Of course, that doesn't mean that life is ONLY about having fun. 95% of the time I behave like a responsible adult that pays his bills (or at least I like to think I do), but every once in a while I like to let go and wrestle my pillows or climb a tree, and there ain't nothin' wrong with that.
Don't forget to have a little fun every now and then.
I only order Sprite when I eat at White Castle, but the rest of the time, I get Dr. Pepper
Why? I have no idea. It just tastes better. Does it actually taste better? Who knows? It is just something I feel, and it is something special about me.
Our own idiosyncrasies are the things that make us unique. They don't have to make sense. Just go with it. And don't be afraid to be yourself. Embrace your weirdness.