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I was introduced to this community prompt I saw that prompt title“nutty as a fruitcake”and I had to google it. Thought it was just a joke. Turns out, it means something like... people who act weird. You know, the type that paints their wall orange just 'cause it feels warm. Or who names their plants. Talks to 'em too or those who talked to themselves act strange also.
I laughed at first, then paused. That might be me not talking to myself but in another amuse ways like creating art out of trash.
I’ve always been... off. Not crazy or anything. Just not the regular kind. I used to collect broken stuff in my environment. Bottle, wires, wrappers. Junk, But I didn’t see junk. I saw pieces of something I could make. Weird stuff, yeah. But it made me feel like I had something to offer.
Most people didn’t understand what I use those stuff for“Why’d you make that?” I’d start explaining, then just stop halfway. What’s the point? They’d never get it. But I used them whenever we asked to submit school project those are my art work.
Then there’s my friend Hasan.
This guy’s a whole other level. He believes the moon gives him energy. Plays soft music for plants so they “don’t get bored.” One time, he built tiny fairy homes out of trash. I asked him what he was doing he said they were for wandering fairies. I told him he is out of his mind.
He’s not pretending. That’s the weirdest part. He’s dead serious. That’s just how he lives. No mask. No pretending. He’s fully himself all the time.
And being around him? Made me think... maybe I’m not broken. Maybe I just never had someone weird enough around to make my weird feel normal also.
I remember we were sitting by a drain once. Just... peeling labels off soda bottles. Doing nothing. He looks at me and says, “The world needs more people like us.”
I was like, “You mean people who dig through trash?”
He goes, “Nah. People who see beauty where no one even looks.”
I thought about what he said and I still feel sad about it. The weirdness. The way people look at me. The silence when I try to share. Like I’m on a different planet or something.
And honestly, I don’t fully love myself yet. Not all of me. Still working on it. Some days I feel okay being this way. Other days I wish I could just be regular. Whatever that means.
But maybe being “nutty” is better than being fake.
Maybe loving broken stuff isn’t wrong. Maybe creating weird art from trash that nobody gets still matters. Maybe that’s what makes me me.
Hasan doesn’t hide. And slowly, I’m learning not to either.
So yeah, if being “fruitcake” means building fairy houses and seeing magic in scraps... then yeah, I’ll take it. That’s better than being boring. That’s better than pretending.
And if you’ve ever felt out of place too like your kind of different just doesn’t fit I feel you. Maybe we’re all just waiting to meet our Hasan. Someone who reminds us: it’s okay to be a little bent. A little bright. A little off.
I’m still learning how to show all of me. Not just the parts people clap for all of it.
And if that makes me nutty?
Cool. I’d rather be fruitcake than fade into the background.