Living the "extremes"

My mom asked me why I always go so 'extreme' and don't walk the middle path more often. "extreme" is certainly relative, and people who live Extreme don't consider themselves to be Extreme. But i considered it.

And rephrased it.

Why, in comparison to my mother, do i seem to be more Extreme?

I always considered Extreme buddhists or Extreme Reborn christians, to come from extreme lives. Usually people who adhered to a strict set of rules to an Extreme degree where of Extreme backgrounds, survivors of abuse, neglect, addictions, what-have-you.

So, based on that consideration of mine, I thought, have i lived a more extreme life than my mothers?

I suppose I have! She grew up in japan, where the concept of 'normal' permeates throughout the culture, and she lived a 'normal' life. She went to school, didn't travel much until she was in her late teens, played sports and music, and had a bunch of peers with whom she could compare herself to and consider herself and her life Normal.

I, on the other hand, traveled around the world twice by the time i was two or three, and even though that was pre-autiobiographical memory, I'm sure it had some effect on me to be exposed to all those different frequencies, at the least on a subconscious level. Then, I lived in different places, never staying in one place for more than 2 or 3 years, rarely feeling like i Belonged or Fit In or definitely not Normal. When i was 13 i remember reading up on a bunch of religions and reading religious texts to see if I could Belong to a Belief System, since i couldnt identify with any Race or Country, and Race, Country, and Religion seemed to be the main Identification Factors for people around me. I couldnt find any religion, so i decided on the religion of atheism... Extreme atheism, in fact, and kept Anton LaVey's 'satanic bible' in my tennis bag as i traveled around the country and the world. I tire of extremism, though, and dabble in many things, though i may dabble intensely and Extremely for a little bit.

So now, when i proclaim that i'm Only Going To Use Cloth Diapers! for my baby, it may look extreme to my mother, but to me, i am ust doing the best that i can with the tools that i have to be environmentally sustainable, consciously aware to the preferences of my child, and not taking any shortcuts just because they 'wont have long term effects'.

I'd like to be much more Extremely present. Id like to be more Extremely healthy. Id like to be extremely connected and flowing with Spirit... You see, Extreme atheism swung right to the other side of the spectrum. Yin Yang reminds me... The waves created by a pebble in the pond create equally low valleys. I experience Extremes because my life experiences have swung me that way.
Its funny... Some of my friends, especially in my san francisco 'conscious' circles consider me 'reasonable' 'balanced' 'grounded'. Its all so relative to the perspectives we are viewing from.