Peculiar People Day: When is it and who does it celebrate?

As you might imagine, Peculiar People Day is a weird holiday and observance that celebrates exactly what it says it does: people who others consider outside of the “norm.” Though, really, these days, what’s normal? Does such a thing even exist? What’s “normal” for you may be peculiar to me, and vice versa.

Still, regardless of how or who defines “normal,” some people just stand out. Sometimes for good reasons, sometimes for bad or infamous ones. This day celebrates them all.

I think.

Since the origins of Peculiar People Day are ambiguous, I’m sort of left to infer that it’s a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) kind of day. Let’s unpack what we do know about it, though.

When It’s Celebrated

Peculiar People Day is celebrated annually on January 10.

Peculiar People Day Origins

This is another of those random days that has mysteriously found its way onto “day” calendars. No one knows who created it, why, or when it first started.

However, it has been around for a while. Like, at least two decades. One of the earliest newspaper references I found to it was in a list of January Days published by The San Francisco Examiner on Jan. 1, 2002.

It also made its way into pop culture by way of a Blondie cartoon published in The Daily Item on Jan. 10, 2017.

Peculiar People Day Purpose

Besides being a day to celebrate the nonconformists amongst us and those who unapologetically march to the beat of their own drums, I liked how the Longview News-Journal quoted psychiatrist Wendy Burke about the day:

“If we’re going to have that kind of day, maybe we could look at it as a National Non-Judgemental Day. We all have issues that we have to deal with. We all have our own challenges.” She goes on to say, “We’re all kind of unique. Perhaps one of the things that is difficult for people is we have a tendency to see other people’s uniqueness as peculiar, whereas we adopt our own as adorable.”

I’d argue not only do we all have issues, but talents that some may not understand and, thus, find peculiar and even poopoo at first. Sometimes these hidden superpowers come to light in obvious and spectacular ways, sometimes they’re more quiet, understated, and subdued. But the beauty —and benefit— of peculiar pioneers rests in their ability to allow others to broaden their horizons, question reality, and see things in a new light. Thus, laying the groundwork for the achievement of future revolutions in ways big and small, great and ordinary.

Check-In

What’s peculiar about you? Comment below and let’s celebrate it together!

As for me, my husband might tell you I have a lot of peculiarities (and he wouldn’t be lying), but he’d start with the fact, “She not only travels with a skeleton, like on planes and cruises and stuff, but also buys pet clothes to dress him up in.” Then he’d raise an eyebrow at you to let that all sink in.

He’s not lying. That is pretty weird. He doesn’t know any other husbands who have carried their wife’s skeleton on their shoulders during some of their trips or watched river rafters on another.

But one I even find peculiar about myself is my compulsion to collect fortune cookie fortunes. I have a whole drawer of them. They span back from almost every Chinese meal since the late 1990s, when this odd behavior began. What am I going to do with them? Why do I balk every time Wayne wants me to throw them out?

I have no idea, but I do know it’s pretty peculiar that I’m so attached to them.