What Made You Weird as a Kid? (And Why it Still Matters)
Dispatch #5 from the Human Aliveness Lab
This is Dispatch #5 in a series from the Human Aliveness Lab — raw, personal reflections exploring what it really means to feel alive. You can read the whole series here.
Hi friends,
Last week, my dad sent me this video by Dan Pink on how to find your life’s purpose.
“Watch it,” he said. “Then call me.”
So I did. And I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.
In the video, Dan shares seven prompts for getting closer to purpose — which he talks about the way I talk about passion: as something that lights you up and gives your life meaning. They’re all solid. But the one that hit me hardest?
What made you weird as a kid?
I called my dad to talk about it.
“What made you weird?” I asked him.
He laughed. “I don’t know. I had a pretty normal childhood. Biking around with friends. Building forts. Fishing with my dad.”
“Those all count,” I replied. “And they’re probably considered weird now.”
Then he turned the question on me.
“So what made you weird?”
I paused. I think I was a pretty weird kid. I loved animals and books. I observed more than I talked. I could entertain myself in my own head all day — is it any surprise I became a writer?
But after thinking about it, I told him:
“I was always trying to get other kids to dream bigger. I wanted them to believe they could do more.”
My dad laughed again. “That is weird.”
And it’s true. From as far back as I can remember, I haven’t just liked helping people dream — I’ve wanted to help them figure out how to get there. I think that process — setting meaningful goals, working toward them — is one of the best parts of being human. (It’s also a core element of Self-Determination Theory: humans thrive when we’re pursuing goals that matter to us.)
That weirdness never really went away. It just evolved. Into fitness coaching. Into writing. Into the Human Aliveness Lab. Into this mission to help people rediscover what lights them up.
(Decades after those early playground pep talks, I got a tattoo on my right arm that says “DREAM BIGGER” in all caps — partly to remind myself, partly to remind anyone who sees it.)
The more passionate people I meet, the more I see this pattern.
John Bucher, now a renowned mythologist and Executive Director of the Joseph Campbell Foundation, first fell in love with the fantastical stories in the movies he watched as a kid.
Megan Vaughan Giesbrecht, a professional circus artist, was doing flips and handstands before she could tie her shoes.
And Louise Picone — now one of the world’s leading experts on presidential birthplaces and deathplaces — didn’t actually care much about presidents as a kid. But he loved research. Organizing information. Sharing it in a way others could understand. And that thread led him to where he is today.
Not everyone ends up doing the exact things they loved as a kid. But the essence is often the same.
So if you’re feeling flat, lost, or disconnected from your spark — try looking back.
What made you weird when you were young?
What did you love so much you lost track of time? What did you talk about nonstop? What felt so “you” that you didn’t care if anyone else got it?
Was it animals? Maps? Movement? Magic tricks? Math problems?
Follow the thread.
Your adult passions might not look exactly like your childhood ones. But I promise, the clues are there.
And if you’re not sure where to start, I put together a simple Passion Discovery Checklist checklist to help.
To live with passion is to let your weirdness lead.
So… what made you weird?
With heart,
Krista