Ordinary! The word sends a chill down one's spine, especially if it's used to describe a person or his ability. Well, if not a chill down the spine, certainly a feeling of worthlessness, of being a loser.

Loser! Throw this word at a person and his self-esteem will be shattered in less than no time. And, a loser is not that different from being ordinary, is he?

So, what differentiates the ordinary from the, well, extraordinary?

Ability?

If that is so, I must hark back to Van Gogh and his failure while he lived and his subsequent though posthumous success. If he had no ability, how come his paintings sell for millions each now...no, not millions, I'm sorry, but hundereds of millions. Yet, Van Gogh died penniless - for, while he lived no one bought his paintings.

Was he ordinary while he lived and extraordinary after he died?

What was it that changed after his death?

The answer, simply, is perceptions.

He was both ordinary and extraordinary. Or, if you like, neither ordinary nor extraordinary. He, just, was! And, he did what he loved doing - painting.

So, why this chase after the extraordinary now? I think we have all lost our minds. We have lost our minds to others who have lost their own minds.

In any case, what is this new extraordinary or is this new extraordinary the same as the old one - the same as the one in Van Gogh's time? Is it not just others' perception about what one is? Is it not about letting others judge one's worth, rightly or wrongly?

If I am ordinary, it is so, because others think me to be ordinary and if I am extraordinary that is also because others believe it to be so. It doesn't mean that I am truly ordinary or extraordinary.

Why, then, should I hold myself, my happiness, my being, hostage to what others think?

Is it not enough that I am happy being what I am? Others may believe what they want but my happiness will not be left on the shelves of their pawn-brokerages.

I would rather be an ordinary but a happy man than an extraordinary and unhappy one.

Rajesh Kanoi (Jack) is a published writer, now living and working in China. Many of his short-stories, poems and articles have been published, including a book of short-stories, 'From China With Love' (Lipstick Publishing).

http://www.writingup.com/blog/oneinabillion

http://o3.indiatimes.com/kjack