Living Unconventionally

Welcome to Our Unconventional Life.

This is a blog invented to record the notable activities in the day to day existence of John & Angelika Weber that we think make us unconventional. Let's start by understanding the word:

un·con·ven·tion·al

/ˌənkənˈven(t)SH(ə)n(ə)l/

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adjective

1. not based on or conforming to what is generally done or believed.

   "his unconventional approach to life"

So, the interesting thing about being unconventional is that it is not really totally under your control. You can only be considered unconventional based on your behavior as it relates to what everyone else is doing. Living unconventionally is a process of constant evolution and invention. We're constantly on the lookout for opportunities to go in new and unexplored directions, away from the din, far from the madding crowd.

Another curious aspect of being unconventional is that it changes over time. Doing something unconventional today doesn't guarantee it will still be unconventional tomorrow when everyone else decides it's such a great idea they start doing it too. I have been telling my kids for decades that I consider myself a trendsetter. I'll leave for later blog musings the details, but let's just say I can recount many things I've done in my life that they considered odd at the time, but turned out to be generally accepted or even popular years later. Of course, by that time I had already moved on to setting new ideas into motion.

I'll observe that the pursuit of an unconventional life can easily cross over to one better described as eccentric. There is a fine line to be drawn here which is entirely subjective based on the point of view of the observer. An unconventional life takes the path less traveled to achieve a goal that most would consider laudable, whereas the eccentric is generally considered simply strange. Once again, being merely unconventional vs. eccentric is entirely dependent on the judgement of others.

Ultimately then, our claim of living unconventionally is entirely subject to your judgement. Ironically though, we also get to judge ourselves relative to the world around us and come to our own conclusions. In the end, all that really matters is that we are pursuing our own goals in our own way to our own satisfaction.

One of my resolutions for 2022 is to try and write in our blog weekly. Now I've already contradicted myself since making New Year's resolutions is fairly customary. I'll attempt to stand apart by actually keeping my resolution throughout the year. Let's see how that goes. 

I hope you find our ponderings at least mildly interesting and that we enjoy some catharsis in the process of sharing with you.