We’re on the island of misfit toys, here we don’t want to stay.
One of my all time favorite holiday shows is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I love it. Maybe, it’s because I can relate to the story of a hairy misfit with a squeaky voice. The show has been on every year since 1964, so I’m betting you know the story. So I will just recap, Rudolph had a nose that resembled a glow stick. This seems to be pretty unnatural. Because of this, he didn’t fit in and subsequently didn’t get to play any reindeer games. His life is hard, Everyone makes fun of him, and even his own father is ashamed of him. So, he runs away. He meets Hermey, a career confused elf, and they decide to be “independent together”…crazy irony. They encounter Yukon Cornelius, a burly prospector with no gold. He acts as their guide and together they set off. It’s a perilous journey, they are in constant danger from the super creepy abominable snowman. They stumble across the island of misfit toys, it is there that they meet a singing spotted elephant (how unsightly), a choo-choo with square wheels on it’s caboose (how embarrassing!!), and a water pistol that shoots jelly (how sticky!!). They jerkily dance in stop motion movements and sing “We are all misfits”.
It’s pretty moving.
Rudolph was a misfit because he was physically different. Hermey was a misfit by choice, he didn’t accept the status quo. He wanted to be a dentist. Yukon Cornelius was loud and socially awkward. They WERE all misfits.
So
Are
We.
We are all misfits.
As I ponder the story, here is what my misfit mind has figured out: Some of us are misfits because of something we were born with that makes us different. We could perceive it as a limitation, when like a shiny red nose, it is meant to be a light.
Some of us are misfits because we have a dream or belief or passion that just won’t let us blend in. We choose to misfit.
Some of us are misfits because our personality cause us to be a constant square peg in a round hole world.
Some of us are a misfit mashup.
Regardless of where we find ourselves, the point is clear…
We are all misfits.
Some misfitness is harder to hide. But, the simple truth is no matter how hard we try to fit in, we are all part of the misfit nation. There is something that makes you different from everyone else who has ever lived. That is art not accident.
We are all misfits, none of us fit in everywhere. We find ourselves on the same island, it is our differences that make us same. Our uncommon creates common ground.
We try so hard to get off the island, We try to be normal. We conform because we have listened to the lies of the evil toytaker. We don’t realize that misfits aren’t the same thing as mistakes.
To the good Toymaker, misfit is just another word for interesting. He took the time to give each of us the beautiful gift of uniqueness. He didn’t have to. It wasn’t necessary. It surely would have been easier for Him to make a bunch of colorless robots who can only conform, but that takes creativity and love out of the equation…BORING!! The Toymaker is not BORING!
You weren’t meant to be boring either!
You weren’t born to fit in, you were designed to stand out.
We sing songs about Rudolph BECAUSE he was different, and BECAUSE he found a way to use his different to overcome darkness.
Different was originally designed to defeat darkness.
We are all misfits.
We are supposed to be.
You are misfit, not mistake.
You are art, not accident.
Why in the world would you want to fit in?!
Fly your misfit flag!!
Sing your song and shine a light in the dark.
We’re on the Island of Misfit toys.
carbonated joy 