Crazy is in the eye of the beholder

My friend Corey has the following quote posted in her IM profile: Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. - Jack Kerouac, from his book: On The Road.

The way that Kerouac sees it, being a little crazy is a good thing. It inspires the reader to embrace their own craziness (which many of my friends know, I do wholeheartedly). In fact, the excerpt from Kerouac's book makes me want to be a little more crazy, a little more daring, break the rules a little more. I want to be crazy enough to think that I can change the world.

People are considered "crazy" if they don't fit a normative prescription of what is considered socially acceptable, right? A "misfit" is someone who is considered disturbingly different from others. Rebels, trouble-makers...and these are the people affecting change in our world today?! These are the people who are affecting change in our world tomorrow?!

It got me thinking: If a person is changing the world, must they be labeled crazy...misfit...rebel...trouble-maker to do it? Were the people who have changed the world, in good and bad ways, at some point labeled as crazy during their times, only to be looked at by future generations not as trouble-makers, but as life-changing mavericks? Is crazy in the eye of the beholder?

Look at Martin Luther King, Jr. During his life, he certainly was labeled a trouble-maker, someone who refused to follow the rules. But look at what a positive impact he had on this country. Look at what he was able to accomplish in the short time that he was on this earth, and the people that he inspired who then carried on his mission after he no longer could. Look how far this nation came in delivering equality to everyone because of his dream, his desire to affect change. Did it make him crazy?

Now look at Franklin Roosevelt, who effectively ended the worst economic depression ever experienced in this country when he instituted the New Deal. He was strongly opinioned, a dynamic force to be reckoned with. Was he considered crazy in his day, for attempting such a vast overhaul of social and economic policy in such a short amount of time (100 days, if you'll remember from your 7th grade Civics class...) Some did think that he was betraying his class, coming from old, old money and helping - God forbid - the poor and downtrodden. Did it make him crazy?

And then there are people like my mom. By all accounts, she could be considered fairly normal. But she has changed the world, or at least her small corner of it. She makes me see important issues in a different, life altering way. She brings joy and comfort to her friends and to her family. She is fiercely loyal and would cut off anyone at the knees if she felt they posed a threat to those she loves. And though she may not be out there on a daily basis fighting for racial equality or creating Social Security, she is affecting change. She makes me want to be a better person.

But she's not a trouble-maker! She's not a misfit! She might be a little nutty, but she's not crazy. And she certainly can't be ignored. She changes things, maybe not on a grand scale, but in her own way. Change doesn't have to occur on some big, world-changing level..it just has to be life-altering to one.

I'm not sure if you necessarily have to be crazy to change the world. You might have to be crazy to attempt it, though. I guess it all depends on how you look at it. Afterall...crazy is in the eye of the beholder.