Do You Consider Yourself A Misfit?

I’ve really enjoyed the Carnivale series, although it was cut short by the networks. I felt it had the potential to grow well past most of the series I have been watching. It’s really a shame.

The casting was particularly ingenious in that I felt these were all believable characters with natural flaws. The women don’t have silicon, everyone looks like you’d expect to see in the 30’s. Somewhere along the way, we decided that a certain image looked good on the screen and that was it. It’s funny how the world has over 6 billion people and we are meant to believe we are all to look super tanned and botoxed. Bizarre.

I could go on and on about why I love this show. Pretty much every reference in it I have already written creatively on paper somewhere so I felt like I had reunited with a long lost family member. I felt instantly comfortable. What really made me feel connected though is the cast of misfits (being Carnies and all) We are continuously taught that unless we look all Hollywood, we can’t "make it". (whatever that means)

Something struck me about one of the main characters named Samson. The actor Michael J. Anderson has had over 25 years of acting experience and has had some fantastic roles along the way. If you want to read an inspiring biography, look him up on IMDB. The thing about this guy is that he is 3’7" tall and after about 2 sentences out of his mouth you don’t even consider that he had the history he did. His personality is 100 times bigger than him and I fell in love with his spirit almost immediately. It wasn’t until well into the second season where another character on the show started poking fun about his height that I found myself thinking, "Oh what a jerk that guy is for making fun of him." But the funny part is that Samson was way smarter than him and so it just made the guy look stupid.

I am inspired by this actor’s ability to separate himself from all the stereotypes. From what I have read, he is very well respected and rightly so. But, in reading his story I also realized that he is an overcomer. He had a hundred broken bones by the age of 20. He sang for tips and slept in his car. Yet, somewhere along the way he must have decided failure was not an option and he went with the thing that was his strong point; his personality.

When a person’s personality is actually bigger than them, it becomes all that you see. I am sure he’s talked to many other people under 4 feet tall and they have told him their story of being disrespected much like women in offices complaining about things, various groups complain about racism…the list goes on and on. At what point in time do we decide that we will not compete with people on their level, but define what our own strengths are and press forward in that area? It saddens me to see pretty girls who are capable intellectually of writing novels still spending all their time at the malls and clubs trying to look the best. Isn’t it more productive to seek out our own strength and dive into making that gift the best it can be? I totally understand competition. I was expected to make more money than other girls in acting and modeling, but instead I have worked really hard to do well in the audio world. I have been disrespected by other producers (and especially when I was blonde) so I know what that means but it’s way more fulfilling to be part of the world where I know what I am good at…and finally I am seeing people look past the looks and gender. It’s because I am getting better all the time at what I am good at. I tell ya though, it’s exhausting. It’s very difficult to make something on our insides stronger than what is on the outside. It’s hard work but very rewarding. I’ll keep ya updated, not there yet. LOL

The need to physically compete wears us out. If we can continue to develop our inner strengths and forget that we are growing older, I believe that we will feel the rejuvenation of youth without actually altering the natural lines in our face that come with age.The misfits of the Carnival found each other. They respect each other. They found a home and a family and more importantly the license to find their own unique potential. This to me is the most important part. How else can we even begin to find our individual purpose here if we are stuck on how we look?

It could be argued that their physical differences is how they made money, but between them all, they looked past it like I do while listening to Samson. That guy is an overcomer…and he has ALL my respect. I look at his awesome career so far and wonder how many beautiful girls are still waiting for their big break…and how life does pass us by… Hmmm, interesting…

What’s your gift? Are you nurturing it? Have you even discovered it yet? Are you a misfit or are you just trying to "fit in"?

Rethinking my role models,
Karen :)

"Time makes ya bolder even children get older and I’m getting older too…yeah I’m getting older too."~Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac)