Being Normal Sucks.
The Copywriter Column #89
Housekeeping: You’ve probably noticed, but I shifted some dates around. The Copywriter Column will now be released every Thursday and the Weekly Round Up will now be released on Fridays. It just makes more sense! I can’t believe nobody told me that before
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Have you heard of the book Scarcity Brain by Michael Easter? It takes a hard look at how our brains are hard-wired for survival, for finding food, shelter, and security, all to become more mindful about the why behind some of our habits.
(He might kill me for describing it that way, but I’m only halfway through and this is what I’m deducing. Sorry, Michael.)
But on my morning commute home from dropping Pax off at daycare, I’ve been listening to the audiobook version. I discovered the 25-minute drive (each way) is the perfect amount of time to digest such heavy-hitting info before the second cup of coffee hits my lips.
This morning, however, something stood out to me.
“You’re pretty normal.”
He shared a story about heading into the wilderness with a new friend he described as a little eccentric. But then he said this to her point-blank and it made me stop in my tracks:
“I don’t know how to put this… but if you look past the roadkill thing, you’re pretty normal for a person that does what you do.”
Yeah, there’s some context there regarding the roadkill, but you just need to read the book to get it.
Normal is bland
I’ve been thinking about what is or isn’t “normal” lately. Kids do that to you. Watching Pax grow up and seeing him learn how to be a functioning human being, I often catch myself wondering what he’s going to be like.
Normal is a word that’s crossed my thinking no less than 10,000 times.
Of course I want him to be normal when it comes to his health and to his physical growth and all of that stuff. There’s no question there are benchmarks in those areas we want him to hit.
But it’s the personality and hobbies and life stuff I’m less concerned about when it comes to him being perceived as “normal.”
Is it normal for boys to be obsessed with construction equipment?
Is it normal for boys to prefer potatoes over broccoli?
Is it normal for boys to love playing in the dirt?
I think those are the wrong questions to ask. Instead, I should be asking: Is this normal for Pax?
Genuinely, I could care less if he’s like everyone else in every other way. It’s so boring. It’s like mixing vanilla ice cream with vanilla ice cream. Nothing’s special about it.
I want Pax to grow up understanding that the concept of normal, as most of us know it, is truly subjective.
He needs to know that it’s okay to be goju-berry-pink-lemonade ice cream in a world full of vanilla.
What’s normal when it comes to marketing?
Obviously, there’s a connection to marketing your brand here.
You might be in the sock business. But so are 5 other guys.
What makes you stand out?
What draws customers to you?
What makes you “stickier” than them?
Because I bet the qualities that resonate aren’t the one’s you’d label “normal.”
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