Almost all of us feel, in private, that we're really quite odd, by which we mean: not like anyone else we know. But our picture of what is normal is in fact - very often - way out of line with what is actually true and widespread. Many thoughts, fears and desires that we might assume to be uniquely and disconcertingly strange - and that make us feel painfully ashamed - are in fact completely average.

We've designed this set of cards as a tool of self-assessment and reassurance. It asks us to compare ourselves with a range of statements, many of them dark, in order to find out just how weird (or not) we and our loved ones really are. It's a route to a fairer sense of what being truly normal might actually involve.

Instructions

This set of cards contains 52 statements. As you go through them (either alone or in a group), decide whether or not you identify with, or in any way recognise, what is being said. If you do, place the card on a pile to the right; if you don't, put it on a pile to the left.

At the end of the exercise, see how many cards you have on the right and discover how normal you are and how well you really know yourself.

Example Cards

• 'I've mostly just pretended to be in love.'
• 'I'm far meaner than anyone thinks.'
• 'I'm an enormous coward.'
• 'I've never really got much out of any 'classic' book I've read.'
• 'I'm scared of asking for directions or of walking into fancy shops.'

52 game cards | 89mm x 126mm | Instruction card included