We're a' Jock Tamson's bairns!

More often than not when I hear someone being described as, "eccentric" the description of them usually involves a shaking of the head, a rolling of the eyes and an acknowledgement that they're a bit, "out there". In actual fact, I find that those so called "eccentrics" are often beautifully connected to their authentic self. Frequently their living their lives in a far more honest way than those who let the combination of a deep rooted need to conform with a fear of standing out from the crowd dictate their behaviour and life choices.
Of course there are varying degrees of eccentricity - but providing someone isn't inflicting pain on another why do others condemn them?
I wonder if there is an element of jealousy?  Perhaps they provoke a sense of awe to the conformist observer who cannot even imagine how it must feel to be freed from their restrictive thoughts and beliefs? Maybe the idea that anyone can truly embrace life and be completely honest about what makes their heart sing proves too much for the conventionalist?
What is wrong with simply celebrating our differences in the knowledge that, for both the eccentric and the conformist, life will serve them the whole gamut of experiences?
Just remember, that underneath whatever we perceive in another, is a human being who feels pain, who laughs, who cries, who celebrates, who needs comfort and who grieves.  Could you, in this new year work on just letting others be who they want to be without judgement or condemnation?  
We really are, quite simply - all the same.  We're here, we're alive, and we're living our lives in a way that fits our unique individuality and personality.  Love it or loathe it, that's how people are - wouldn't it be easier and less upsetting just to love and accept others?
"It is not our differences that divide us.  It is our inability to recognise, accept, and celebrate those differences." - Audre Lorde
"We're a' Jock Tamson's bairns"  a phrase written in Lowland Scots and Northumbrian English from the 1800's meaning, "We're all the same under the skin."