When I read the title of the TED Talk "The beauty of being a misfit" by Lidia Yuknavitch, the first thing I did was to look up in the dictionary what the word "misfit" means. I found the following:
"MISFIT: A person who is different from other people and who does not seem to belong in a group or individual situation".
Source: Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary.
After doing so, I started to think about the many times I have myself felt as a misfit. I think that everyone, at least once in a lifetime, has felt like a misfit. As human beings, we are so different one from another that it is nearly impossible to always fit in. I think that society forces us to follow certain standards that tell us how we should act, but as we are individuals with different ideas and ideals we tend once in a while to be outcasts. With that in mind, I continued watching the video.
I was expecting some kind of general idea of what being a misfit was. But once I finished watching the video, it turned out that her story was so compelling that I found myself moved to tears. Her words were somehow touching certain moments that I have experienced in my life. When Lidia talked about that "small sad stone in my throat" I knew exactly the feeling. I am a person that has experienced that feeling of not being able to express my thoughts not once, not twice, but many times. When I feel uncomfortable with a certain situation I don´t know how to react, I just cannot speak. It is in fact as if I had something in my throat that does not allow me to say a word. The inability to express my feelings also comes with a lot of regrets and what-ifs that let me completely helpless. This happens to me with bad things and with good things too, wich always reminds me of a quote by Stephen Chbosky:
I found myself nodding at every time Lidia spoke about "the shame we carry". It was really heartbreaking to realize that I have sabotaged myself so many times only because I felt that I was not good enough or that I did not deserve the goodness of life. Lidia Yuknavitch said something that every person should hear "You are good enough, you deserve to want and feel something good". If you hear those words once in a while, I am pretty sure that you will make choices based on what you want and not on what is expected from you.
I found myself nodding at every time Lidia spoke about "the shame we carry". It was really heartbreaking to realize that I have sabotaged myself so many times only because I felt that I was not good enough or that I did not deserve the goodness of life. Lidia Yuknavitch said something that every person should hear "You are good enough, you deserve to want and feel something good". If you hear those words once in a while, I am pretty sure that you will make choices based on what you want and not on what is expected from you.
I strongly believe that this talk will stay with me forever. I will remember that being a misfit is something beautiful. To the ones that are reading this I would like to let you the quote that I liked the most of the video, I think that you may need it someday:
REMEMBER:
