Steve Jobs was quoted about people who “think different”:

“While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

This comes from “Learning from Leonardo” [da Vinci] in the Time special issue magazine The Science of Creativity.

I will be touching on this idea in coming blog entries.

My literary agent thought the premise of my memoir Left of the Dial was “Enjoy your quirkiness.”

That sums up how to approach living life when you think differently and see things differently.

The fact is those of us who are creative could be viewed as being “misfits.” There’s a mis-fit between how we operate and how most people go about living their lives.

Which is precisely why I titled the memoir Left of the Dial: you need to have self-acceptance and go along in your merry way. Especially when other people don’t understand you.

In reality people who are afraid to dare to be different are secretly envious of those of us who have the courage to take this risk.

I say: All hail the misfits, the freaks, the rebels, the lefties.

And all hail the people who conform. Either way the world needs more love and compassion and less judging.

I recommend you buy and read The Science of Creativity magazine.

My stance is that everyone can be creative:

Accountants who crunch numbers. Folk singers at a coffeehouse. Customer Service Reps.

In fact I don’t like to use the word freak. This is because those of us who don’t conform most like don’t see anything different about ourselves.

We go along quite content inspired by whatever muse urges us to create.

I’ll end here with this:

If you want to succeed in life be creative in your own way.

The joy of self-expression is the ultimate remedy for pain.