Weird works.

This is how Mary Vallis ended her recent feature post on The New Family’s #1000families project. In her piece she describes how her family makes the most of their time together by just letting go and being themselves. They act silly, they dance, and they create funny costumes. They laugh. What makes their nuclear family unique is what can’t be seen from the outside.

Mary’s article resonated with me.

For many years I was guarded – with my personality, with the ways I presented myself to those around me. I was anxious about showing my authentic self because of fear of judgment.

But why did I care?

I had a silly side, a fun side, a side that could be uninhibited by the perception of others. I just didn’t know it. It wasn’t until I met my wife and had a family of my own that I was able to release a side of me that in many ways I had been suppressing for my entire life.

Suddenly none of it mattered anymore.

From the moment I met my wife I knew I wanted to marry her. It may sound corny but it’s true. She is the only person who I have felt I never had to be guarded around. She completely knows me and embraces who I am. I can spontaneously break out in song, dance around like a fool, or be unapologetically vulnerable. It’s all the same – I feel loved entirely day in and day out.

I am a very lucky man and do not take a moment for granted.

Fast forward to the day we introduced our son to the world. Whether he liked it or not he had been implanted into a family who makes the most of their unique moments together. And with each passing day our familial weirdness grows: Traditionally we have Friday night dance parties in our living room. On any given day you can find us singing loudly in our kitchen to, “All About The Bass.” We make up silly knock-knock jokes at the dinner table and repeat each other’s sentences using different words with like sounds – “What! You use different birds with white crowns?”

We laugh. A lot.

Our townhome is in a row of dozens that look exactly the same. But behind the walls something very different is going on. And I am blessed to be a part of it.

It’s important that families embrace authenticity and foster confidence. Make the most of the time you have together and relinquish your inhibitions. Too often in life we are expected to behave a certain way or adhere to a standard of seriousness.

Remember to keep it weird. Whatever that means to you.