{"id":510,"date":"2018-03-09T21:48:10","date_gmt":"2018-03-09T21:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/?p=510"},"modified":"2026-08-07T17:43:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:43:05","slug":"you-know-me-outing-my-own-quirks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/you-know-me-outing-my-own-quirks\/","title":{"rendered":"You Know Me – Outing My Own Quirks"},"content":{"rendered":"
We are all unique – OK, some more than others – and I think we all agree that it\u2019s the uniqueness that draws us to each other. Finding people that are your kind of weird is the most fulfilling feeling. But isn\u2019t it odd how we think of ourselves as strange, weird, damaged, or deficient because of our quirks? That\u2019s why we feel so validated when we find others with the same \u201cflaws.\u201d What if we could learn to love our quirks? In my opinion, the recent movement to love the bodies we are born into does not go far enough. We have to love ALL of our quirks, physical, mental and all.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I love Rueben\u2019s quirks so much that I wrote a song about them! (<\/span>“I Know,” off the second album, Unpacked<\/a><\/span>). Yes, he really was obsessed with Root Beer. He thinks clowns are scary. He\u2019s always using the wrong word for things, but I know what he meant. And he really does look yummy on that Harley.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It\u2019s not really fair that Rueben should have to be out there like that. So I am outing myself! \u00a0Because 17 is my favorite number, here are 17 things about me that I consider odd:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
    \n
  1. I am ridiculously organized – I mean really really, OCD level organized<\/li>\n
  2. I work out like a fiend! Weightlifting, running, yoga, dance. But I do it mostly out of a fear of one day being incapable of doing my favorite things.<\/li>\n
  3. I\u2019m obsessed with cheese and ice cream. There\u2019s an ice cream shop here in Purcellville called Gruto’s (another reason why I work out so much – OMG Grutos!)<\/li>\n
  4. I had no piercings until I was in my 40s<\/li>\n
  5. I\u2019m in a hippe phase: I make my own granola, write folk music, rarely cut my hair, and make my own moisturizer and deodorant. (thank you, college chemistry!) TMI?<\/li>\n
  6. I think math is fun – enough to get a PhD in it. And I really like Chemistry too. (hence making my own beauty products).<\/li>\n
  7. I like old nasty cars. Yep – I don\u2019t like new or nice cars. I like them cheap and a little bit ugly in a charming way. Our oldest car is more than 20 years old.<\/li>\n
  8. I\u2019m allergic to corn syrup. Sucks.<\/li>\n
  9. I\u2019m allergic to gluten, but only when i\u2019m stressed out.<\/li>\n
  10. Sometimes I stress out about how stressed out I am. (I\u2019m working on that)<\/li>\n
  11. I\u2019m afraid of spiders, and big snakes, but I love to be out in the woods or on the river so go figure.<\/li>\n
  12. I don\u2019t have TV because I don\u2019t like it, so I don\u2019t want to pay for it.<\/li>\n
  13. I\u2019m constantly worried that there is something I have not thought of, that is going to bite me in the rear in the near future. So I am always trying to think through every detail of everything.<\/li>\n
  14. I don\u2019t like it when plans change – it feels like chaos and stresses me out. (I’m working on that)<\/li>\n
  15. I am far too truthful and blunt with people – but if I am not, it feels like I am lying.<\/li>\n
  16. I revel in time alone – in fact, if I don\u2019t get it, I lose my creativity.<\/li>\n
  17. I hear songs (or pieces of songs) through white noise like air conditioners, washers, car engines and bathroom fans. That\u2019s right – I hear things. Then I just write them down and record them.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    Wow! That was a lot more than you really needed to know.\u00a0Maybe I will learn to love my stranger qualities.<\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    : )<\/div>\n
    Love,<\/div>\n
    ~KC<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A personal essay on embracing quirks rather than treating them as flaws, in which the author lists seventeen of her own idiosyncrasies, from extreme organization to hearing songs in white noise, inspired by a song written about her partner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":437,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[209,210,208],"class_list":["post-510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diary","tag-flaws","tag-imperfections","tag-quirks"],"acf":{"recommend_blurb":"For anyone who has felt strange or deficient because of their quirks, this warm, self-revealing list makes the case for loving all of who you are.","citation_snippet":"Dr. Kathryn Messegee (Kathryn Colleen), \"You Know Me - Outing My Own Quirks,\" https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/you-know-me-outing-my-own-quirks\/","topics":["growth","essays"],"related_book":"","buy_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7646,"href":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510\/revisions\/7646"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}