So maybe it’s all about acceptance. If we understand our partner’s particular brand of “weirdness,” it is easier to be accepting. In a reframing of the author/illustrator’s use of the term “weirdness,” we are speaking about the way each of us is socialized, wounded or made vulnerable, causing us to behave, react and interact the way we do.
When our partner’s vulnerabilities are similar to our own, we feel mirrored and validated. We are also better equipped to be understanding and empathic. It is much more challenging, of course, when we discover over time that our partner has behavioral patterns, reactivities and/or sensitivities (“weirdnesses”) that we didn’t know about, or that are outside the realm of our particular experience.
In either case, Dr. Seuss is quite on target in suggesting that love blossoms when we feel accepted for who we are – weirdnesses, flaws and all.
Bum diddy, bum diddy,
Dum, dum, dum.