And even as we felt none or were robbed of it along the way, we know how to illuminate a path to self-worth based on helping others, based on recognizing that you belong to something besides the violence around you.
Catalog
Lidia Yuknavitch
Lidia Yuknavitch (born June 18, 1963) is an American writer, teacher and editor based in Oregon. She is the author of the memoir The Chronology of Water, and the novels The Small Backs of Children, Dora: A Headcase, and The Book of Joan. She is also known for her TED talk "The Beauty of Being a Misfit", which has been viewed over 2.5 million times, and her followup book The Misfit's Manifesto. 2Biography Yuknavitch grew up in a home where her father verbally, physically, and sexually abused her and her sister, while her alcoholic mother did not intervene. As a teen, she was noticed by a "caring and methodical coach" who helped her move towards her dream of becoming a competitive swimmer. The family moved to Florida for additional training, and Yuknavitch began abusing alcohol. Yuknavitch attended college in Texas on a swimming scholarship and had hopes of qualifying for the United States Olympic swimming team. The boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, however, as well as her own drug and alcohol abuse, ended her competitive swimming career. Yuknavitch moved to Eugene, Oregon after losing her scholarship and enrolled in the University of Oregon. She was one of the editors of Two Girls Review, which later became 2 Gyrlz Performative Art
So one kind of misfit is the child who grew up and through one kind of violence or another, and what we have to give is this: We can endure. We know how to breathe differently in a crisis, with calm and presence.
There is nothing wrong with us. We are the rest of you. We are useful to our culture and more; we have specific skills born of resistance, reinvention, and resilience that are vital to human existence.
Some of us manage to invent bodies, voices, and lives worth living even though we don’t fit in to the normative socius.
Misfits, from my point of view, are everything. The world needs us.
Misfits transform fear and anger and grief into expression rather than destruction—we give something of value to the rest of culture rather than succumbing to our own misery, particularly when those around us recognize our value. Misfits know how to resist the homogenizing narratives of culture…
Misfits are remarkably good at invention, reinvention...We are resilient; we don’t just survive, we invent how to thrive.