The Misfit's Manifesto by Lidia Yuknavitch

Author :Lidia Yuknavitch
Title : The Misfit's Manifesto
Published : 2017
Publisher : Simon & Schuster UK
Pages : 160
Genre : Autobiography / Essays

     Lidia Yuknavitch is a proud misfit. That wasn't always the case. It took Lidia a long time to not simply accept, but appreciate her misfit status. Having flunked out of college twice, with two epic divorces under her belt, an episode of rehab for drug use, and two stints in jail, she felt like she would never fit in. She was a hopeless misfit. She'd failed as daughter, wife, mother, scholar and yet the dream of being a writer was stuck like a small sad stone in her throat. The feeling of not fitting in is universal. The Misfit's Manifesto is for misfits around the world; the rebels, the eccentrics, the oddballs, and anyone who has ever felt like she was messing up. It's a Love letter to all those who can't ever seem to find the right path. She won't tell you how to stop being a misfit; quite the opposite. In her charming, poetic, funny, and frank style, Lidia will reveal why being a misfit is not something to overcome, but something to embrace.

     While the world of TED talks is something that is rattling around in the back of my head, I can't say I have ever devoted I stumbled across this book I figured it was worth devoting a little of my time to. I some times wonder if the word Misfit much like literally is overused these days. It seems to be used to describe anything or one that doesn't quite fit a singular person view of the world. It is a word used to explain away those people that most do not want to try and understand. It is also a word I have seen come up time and again when news reports come up about school shooters. But here the author delves much deep into what it means to truly be a misfit in a world so intent on making every one flow in the same direction. 

     I was a couple of chapters in before I had the oddest epiphany. It is truly a strange thing for me at least to be reading of others lives and the way they think and suddenly get a feeling like home. That overwhelming sense that just maybe that thing that I have been feeling all my life was also felt by others. For me, I have never been able to put into words the way my mind always shied away from what those around me thought or wanted.  I was always told it was an introverts thing, that it was something to grow out of. But for the first time, this author has shown me that it is not something to be ashamed of. Being different isn't bad, in fact, it allows you to see things from a different perspective. And at times give balance to a wider world. 

     I feel that for many the world is a very black and white place. For those that fit it all makes sense this need or drive to rise to the top and become the best. But if we all think and feel the same way then the world can only stagnate. And this is what Yuknavitch is trying to show the world in this book I think. Within these pages the text it's self rallies against any rational form you may come to expect. It is a train of thought that flows from one point to another giving little care for the jump. But to my brain, it has a beautiful rhythm that beats at its heart. What at first glance may seem chaotic actually form structure and bridge from one thought to the next. But as she points out the title of misfit comes at a cost. You do not become this way without first having to pain the price. And for this, it is not one that has been asked for. Maybe it is from these traumas that paths in the brain change route at an early age. The rive beds they once flowed along dry up and search out new connections. And from these we a forced to see the world as others don't 

     I realize that for a great many people this book will pass them by. But I think for some it will be like a beacon calling you home. That there is a part of this crazy world you fit in even if within it others seem stranger and weird.  And if you are lucky enough to to have one in your world this book might just help you understand them a little better when they seem to be swimming against to grain. For me, I just want to thank Yuknavitch for allowing me to feel a little less alone in a world I often fail to understand.