The Nature of Eccentricity

Defining eccentricity is like defining beauty--it all depends on who’s doing the judging. According to Webster, an eccentric can be defined as someone whose behavior varies wildly from the norm, which, if the circumstances were right, could even mean you! The beauty of this definition is that it allows society to change its mind—as it often does--as to whom it labels deviant, delightful or otherwise.  California and Florida, for example, consider most any behavior normal, but put the average San Franciscan in Iowa and they’ll be wearing an “E” on their forehead soon enough.

Behaving eccentrically, however, is not the same as being crazy, even if appearances would sometimes seem to indicate otherwise.  Just because someone opens an umbrella cover museum, or applies 18,000 coats of paint to a baseball, or lives in an underground art warren, it doesn’t mean they’re suffering from mental illness.  In fact, they’re doing quite the opposite, namely following their bliss. Their unique peculiarities allow them the freedom to behave in ways that most of us find odd or scary.  They’re lucky—they don’t care what others think. They only need to live up to their own expectations to be happy.

But who gets to decide who’s eccentric and who gets dismissed as a crazy old coot?  That’s not an easy question to answer.  To some extent it has to do with money. If a poor person acts strangely, they could be labeled crazy, but if someone is rich and/or functional enough to open a tourist attraction, their behavior is more likely to be elevated to the status of eccentric. As long as eccentrics don’t actually do any harm, society will usually let them go on about their business, however bizarre that business may be. Outspoken and out of step, eccentrics are tolerated with good humor, while those considered crazy are whisked out of sight.

According to a clinical study of eccentrics by Dr. David Weeks, whose book, Eccentrics:  A Study of Sanity and Strangeness, covered both British and American subjects, eccentrics are happier than the population as a whole. By choosing to behave unconventionally, and by not needing reinforcement from others, they enjoy a freedom that eludes most of us.  Happily indulging their obsessions, they’ll persist at whatever makes them happy regardless of what society may think. For the most part, they don’t suffer from the kinds of stress and anxiety that plague so many of us. They’re also healthier, making far fewer visits to doctors than the norm.  The term itself--mental illness-- implies the need of a cure and it’s hard to make a case for treating health and happiness.

As non-conformists, eccentrics usually revel in being different.  (This is not to say that their path to self-acceptance came easily. As children they were out of step with their peers and had to come to terms with being different.)  They’re highly creative, motivated by curiosity, and often idealistic, just wanting to make the world a better place through their contributions. And who’s to say we’re not all enriched, or inspired, by a man who can spend twenty years building a three-story mountain in God’s honor out of hay, adobe, window putty and old paint?

True eccentrics have absolute faith that their way is the right one and if you can’t see the light, well … it’s your loss. This is especially true of eccentrics who passionately pursue a strange idea or concept. Elizabeth Tashjian, the Nut Lady of Connecticut, worshiped nuts and her home was a sanctuary to them, a place where she could keep them safe from nutcrackers. Nancy Townsend, also known as Mother Goose, invented duck diapers so people can keep birds as house pets. Opinionated and outspoken, eccentrics like these think that if you’d just come around to their way of thinking, you’ll be as happy as they are. They’ll bend your ear for hours if you’ll let them, going on and on about the virtues of their passion, be it collecting frogs or planning to shoot themselves into space in a homemade copper egg. By filtering out what is inconsequential to them, they’re free to focus, usually obsessively, on their peculiar pursuit.  For them, happiness is the light at the end of a funnel.

Many eccentrics function perfectly well in society even if they do measure success with a crooked yardstick. Brother Joseph, a cleric in Alabama, spent decades building a concrete Holy Land out of cold cream jars, all the while performing his usual duties. John Davis of Kansas built himself a gigantic grave memorial featuring almost a dozen life-size statues depicting all the phases of his life. Passionate collectors, such as Ken Bannister, the Banana Man, and Mildred O’Neil, the Shoe Lady, lead mostly balanced lives despite their obsessions with acquiring particular objects. There’s a loopy logic to their thinking; a strange sanity that lets them express themselves more freely than the rest of us without being carted off to the loony bin.

Able to live in unconventional settings, or in unconventional ways, eccentrics don’t need other people to affirm their identities. Richard Zimmerman of Idaho, dubbed ‘Dugout Dick’, likes caves so much that he’s spent a good chunk of his life digging them and living in them. Marta Beckett opened an opera house in Death Valley, painting an audience on the walls so she didn’t have to dance by herself. Michael Kahn and Leda Livant live in an undulating warren of art forms in the Arizona desert.  It’s not that these people are loners.  They just use solitude to fuel their creative juices and they’re usually delighted to share the results with you.

In order for eccentricity to flourish, people need the right set of circumstances, most importantly, freedom of speech and a culture that encourages individual expression without fear of negative consequence. A healthy society thrives on a variety of ideas, including the far-fetched and extreme, whereas one that demands complete conformity is doomed to eventual failure.  Thus, it should come as no surprise that America, Great Britain, and other western societies are at the top of the pecking order, eccentrically speaking. It also explains why you’re never going to see an eccentric guide to Saudi Arabia or China. In the right place, at the right time, eccentrics become assets to a community, proof of their success as free and capitalistic societies.

Unfortunately, modern society sometimes tries to treat behavior that “varies widely from the norm” with drugs, doing a great disservice to those who live on its fringes. Eccentrics often display brilliant creativity and genius along with their quirks. Imagine the loss to society if Newton or Einstein had been given Prozac to modify their thinking. Most eccentrics just want to live out their own realities and to leave the world a better place. They want to infect you with their enthusiasm so you, too, can be as happy as they are. Eccentric America takes you into their world, giving you the opportunity to come away enriched by the experience.