[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.84,0:00:04.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I know TED is about a lot\Nof things that are big,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.60,0:00:08.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I want to talk to you\Nabout something very small.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.15,0:00:10.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So small, it's a single word.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.09,0:00:12.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The word is "misfit."
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.35,0:00:16.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's one of my favorite words,\Nbecause it's so literal.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.40,0:00:21.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, it's a person\Nwho sort of missed fitting in.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.75,0:00:24.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or a person who fits in badly.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.66,0:00:27.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or this: "a person who is poorly adapted
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.60,0:00:30.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to new situations and environments."
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.30,0:00:33.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm a card-carrying misfit.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.31,0:00:37.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'm here for the other\Nmisfits in the room,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.16,0:00:38.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because I'm never the only one.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.100,0:00:41.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm going to tell you a misfit story.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.24,0:00:45.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Somewhere in my early 30s,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.79,0:00:49.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the dream of becoming a writer\Ncame right to my doorstep.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.20,0:00:51.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Actually, it came to my mailbox
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.83,0:00:55.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the form of a letter that said\NI'd won a giant literary prize
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.51,0:00:57.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for a short story I had written.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.18,0:01:01.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The short story was about my life\Nas a competitive swimmer
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.63,0:01:04.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and about my crappy home life,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.26,0:01:10.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and a little bit about how grief\Nand loss can make you insane.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:11.83,0:01:16.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The prize was a trip to New York City\Nto meet big-time editors and agents
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.53,0:01:17.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and other authors.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.28,0:01:21.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So kind of it was the wannabe\Nwriter's dream, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.57,0:01:25.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know what I did the day\Nthe letter came to my house?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.04,0:01:27.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because I'm me,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.86,0:01:30.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I put the letter on my kitchen table,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.08,0:01:33.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I poured myself a giant glass of vodka
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.92,0:01:36.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with ice and lime,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.72,0:01:40.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I sat there in my underwear\Nfor an entire day,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.95,0:01:43.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just staring at the letter.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.61,0:01:47.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was thinking about all the ways\NI'd already screwed my life up.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.78,0:01:50.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Who the hell was I to go to New York City
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.98,0:01:52.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and pretend to be a writer?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.68,0:01:55.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Who was I?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.07,0:01:56.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'll tell you.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.74,0:01:57.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was a misfit.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.62,0:02:00.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like legions of other children,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.91,0:02:04.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I came from an abusive household
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.30,0:02:06.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I narrowly escaped with my life.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.73,0:02:12.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I already had two epically\Nfailed marriages underneath my belt.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.24,0:02:15.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'd flunked out of college\Nnot once but twice
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.23,0:02:18.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and maybe even a third time\Nthat I'm not going to tell you about.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.45,0:02:20.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.58,0:02:24.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'd done an episode\Nof rehab for drug use.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.80,0:02:29.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'd had two lovely\Nstaycations in jail.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.23,0:02:32.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I'm on the right stage.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.68,0:02:35.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.74,0:02:40.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the real reason,\NI think, I was a misfit,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.26,0:02:43.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that my daughter died\Nthe day she was born,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.55,0:02:46.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I hadn't figured out\Nhow to live with that story yet.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.23,0:02:53.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After my daughter died\NI also spent a long time homeless,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.38,0:02:55.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,living under an overpass
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.35,0:02:59.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a kind of profound state\Nof zombie grief and loss
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.59,0:03:02.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that some of us encounter along the way.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.13,0:03:04.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe all of us, if you live long enough.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.24,0:03:10.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, homeless people\Nare some of our most heroic misfits,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.26,0:03:13.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because they start out as us.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.67,0:03:20.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So you see, I'd missed fitting in\Nto just about every category out there:
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.11,0:03:24.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,daughter, wife, mother, scholar.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.47,0:03:27.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the dream of being a writer
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.100,0:03:33.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was really kind of like a small,\Nsad stone in my throat.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.91,0:03:38.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was pretty much in spite of myself\Nthat I got on that plane
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.40,0:03:40.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and flew to New York City,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.81,0:03:42.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where the writers are.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.17,0:03:46.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Fellow misfits, I can almost\Nsee your heads glowing.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.87,0:03:48.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can pick you out of a room.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:48.80,0:03:51.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At first, you would've loved it.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.26,0:03:54.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You got to choose the three\Nfamous writers you wanted to meet,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.24,0:03:56.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and these guys went\Nand found them for you.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.62,0:03:59.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You got set up at the Gramercy Park Hotel,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.44,0:04:02.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where you got to drink Scotch\Nlate in the night
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.10,0:04:04.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with cool, smart, swank people.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.61,0:04:09.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And you got to pretend you were cool\Nand smart and swank, too.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.14,0:04:12.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And you got to meet a bunch\Nof editors and authors and agents
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.36,0:04:16.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at very, very fancy lunches and dinners.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.38,0:04:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ask me how fancy.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.74,0:04:21.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Audience: How fancy?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.08,0:04:26.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Lidia Yuknavitch: I'm making a confession:\NI stole three linen napkins --
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.42,0:04:27.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.01,0:04:29.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from three different restaurants.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.43,0:04:32.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I shoved a menu down my pants.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:32.72,0:04:34.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.82,0:04:38.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I just wanted some keepsakes\Nso that when I got home,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.55,0:04:40.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I could believe it had really\Nhappened to me.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.24,0:04:42.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.47,0:04:45.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The three writers I wanted to meet
Dialogue: 0,0:04:45.16,0:04:47.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were Carole Maso, Lynne Tillman\Nand Peggy Phelan.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.50,0:04:51.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These were not famous,\Nbest-selling authors,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:51.57,0:04:54.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but to me, they were women-writer titans.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.70,0:04:59.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Carole Maso wrote the book\Nthat later became my art bible.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:00.06,0:05:02.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Lynne Tillman gave me\Npermission to believe
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.58,0:05:06.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that there was a chance\Nmy stories could be part of the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.84,0:05:08.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And Peggy Phelan reminded me
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.82,0:05:13.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that maybe my brains\Ncould be more important than my boobs.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.50,0:05:18.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They weren't mainstream women writers,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:18.21,0:05:21.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but they were cutting a path\Nthrough the mainstream
Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.01,0:05:23.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with their body stories,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:24.29,0:05:28.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I like to think, kind of the way\Nwater cut the Grand Canyon.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:29.37,0:05:31.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It nearly killed me with joy
Dialogue: 0,0:05:31.11,0:05:34.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to hang out with these three\Nover-50-year-old women writers.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:34.97,0:05:37.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the reason it nearly\Nkilled me with joy
Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.92,0:05:39.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that I'd never known a joy like that.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.01,0:05:41.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'd never been in a room like that.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:42.35,0:05:44.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My mother never went to college.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:44.75,0:05:47.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And my creative career to that point
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.26,0:05:51.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was a sort of small, sad, stillborn thing.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.39,0:05:56.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So kind of in those first nights\Nin New York I wanted to die there.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:56.70,0:06:00.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was just like, "Kill me now.\NI'm good. This is beautiful."
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.19,0:06:04.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some of you in the room\Nwill understand what happened next.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.94,0:06:09.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,First, they took me to the offices\Nof Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:09.86,0:06:13.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Farrar, Straus and Giroux\Nwas like my mega-dream press.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:13.06,0:06:16.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, T.S. Eliot and Flannery O'Connor\Nwere published there.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:17.42,0:06:21.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The main editor guy sat me down\Nand talked to me for a long time,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:21.82,0:06:24.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,trying to convince me I had a book in me
Dialogue: 0,0:06:24.16,0:06:25.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about my life as a swimmer.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.50,0:06:27.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, like a memoir.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:28.63,0:06:30.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The whole time he was talking to me,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.89,0:06:34.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I sat there smiling and nodding\Nlike a numb idiot,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:35.51,0:06:37.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with my arms crossed over my chest,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.38,0:06:42.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while nothing, nothing, nothing\Ncame out of my throat.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:43.88,0:06:47.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So in the end, he patted me\Non the shoulder
Dialogue: 0,0:06:47.27,0:06:48.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like a swim coach might.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:49.58,0:06:51.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he wished me luck
Dialogue: 0,0:06:51.44,0:06:53.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he gave me some free books
Dialogue: 0,0:06:53.90,0:06:55.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he showed me out the door.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:57.59,0:07:00.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Next, they took me\Nto the offices of W.W. Norton,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.88,0:07:03.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where I was pretty sure\NI'd be escorted from the building
Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.60,0:07:05.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just for wearing Doc Martens.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:06.19,0:07:07.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But that didn't happen.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:08.51,0:07:10.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Being at the Norton offices
Dialogue: 0,0:07:10.96,0:07:15.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,felt like reaching up into the night sky\Nand touching the moon
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.46,0:07:19.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while the stars stitched your name\Nacross the cosmos.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:19.60,0:07:21.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, that's how big\Na deal it was to me.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:21.77,0:07:22.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You get it?
Dialogue: 0,0:07:23.57,0:07:26.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Their lead editor, Carol Houck Smith,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:26.09,0:07:30.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,leaned over right in my face\Nwith these beady, bright, fierce eyes
Dialogue: 0,0:07:30.46,0:07:33.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and said, "Well, send me\Nsomething then, immediately!"
Dialogue: 0,0:07:34.33,0:07:36.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,See, now most people,\Nespecially TED people,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:36.64,0:07:38.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,would have run to the mailbox, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:07:39.65,0:07:42.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It took me over a decade to even imagine
Dialogue: 0,0:07:42.95,0:07:46.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,putting something in an envelope\Nand licking a stamp.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:48.74,0:07:50.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the last night,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:50.34,0:07:53.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I gave a big reading\Nat the National Poetry Club.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.34,0:07:56.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And at the end of the reading,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:56.31,0:08:00.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Katharine Kidde of Kidde,\NHoyt & Picard Literary Agency,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:00.64,0:08:03.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,walked straight up to me and shook my hand
Dialogue: 0,0:08:03.25,0:08:06.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and offered me representation,\Nlike, on the spot.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:08.56,0:08:11.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I stood there and I kind of went deaf.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.57,0:08:13.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Has this ever happened to you?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:13.70,0:08:15.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I almost started crying
Dialogue: 0,0:08:15.84,0:08:19.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because all the people in the room\Nwere dressed so beautifully,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:19.79,0:08:22.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and all that came out of my mouth was:
Dialogue: 0,0:08:22.96,0:08:26.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I don't know. I have to think about it."
Dialogue: 0,0:08:26.80,0:08:31.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And she said, "OK, then," and walked away.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:32.88,0:08:39.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All those open hands out to me,\Nthat small, sad stone in my throat ...
Dialogue: 0,0:08:39.43,0:08:43.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You see, I'm trying to tell you something\Nabout people like me.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:43.39,0:08:47.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Misfit people -- we don't always know\Nhow to hope or say yes
Dialogue: 0,0:08:47.47,0:08:49.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or choose the big thing,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:49.10,0:08:51.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even when it's right in front of us.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:51.27,0:08:52.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a shame we carry.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:52.91,0:08:54.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's the shame of wanting something good.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:54.93,0:08:56.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's the shame of feeling something good.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:56.94,0:09:01.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's the shame of not really believing\Nwe deserve to be in the room
Dialogue: 0,0:09:01.35,0:09:03.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the people we admire.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:04.47,0:09:07.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If I could, I'd go back\Nand I'd coach myself.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:07.42,0:09:11.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'd be exactly like those\Nover-50-year-old women who helped me.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:11.79,0:09:13.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'd teach myself how to want things,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:13.71,0:09:16.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how to stand up, how to ask for them.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:16.08,0:09:20.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'd say, "You! Yeah, you!\NYou belong in the room, too."
Dialogue: 0,0:09:20.41,0:09:22.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The radiance falls on all of us,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:22.70,0:09:25.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we are nothing without each other.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:27.04,0:09:30.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Instead, I flew back to Oregon,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:30.34,0:09:36.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and as I watched the evergreens\Nand rain come back into view,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:36.05,0:09:40.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I just drank many tiny bottles\Nof airplane "feel sorry for yourself."
Dialogue: 0,0:09:41.49,0:09:46.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I thought about how, if I was a writer,\NI was some kind of misfit writer.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:47.24,0:09:48.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What I'm saying is,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:48.43,0:09:50.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I flew back to Oregon without a book deal,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:50.46,0:09:51.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without an agent,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:51.63,0:09:54.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and with only a headful\Nand heart-ful of memories
Dialogue: 0,0:09:54.14,0:09:57.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of having sat so near
Dialogue: 0,0:09:57.31,0:09:59.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the beautiful writers.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:00.28,0:10:03.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Memory was the only prize\NI allowed myself.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:05.18,0:10:08.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And yet, at home in the dark,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:09.27,0:10:10.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,back in my underwear,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:11.79,0:10:13.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I could still hear their voices.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:14.26,0:10:18.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They said, "Don't listen to anyone\Nwho tries to get you to shut up
Dialogue: 0,0:10:18.33,0:10:19.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or change your story."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:20.86,0:10:24.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They said, "Give voice to the story\Nonly you know how to tell."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:24.56,0:10:26.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They said, "Sometimes telling the story
Dialogue: 0,0:10:27.02,0:10:30.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is the thing that saves your life."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:31.70,0:10:35.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now I am, as you can see,\Nthe woman over 50.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:36.28,0:10:37.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'm a writer.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:38.52,0:10:39.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'm a mother.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:40.44,0:10:41.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I became a teacher.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:42.97,0:10:44.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Guess who my favorite students are.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:46.60,0:10:48.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Although it didn't happen the day
Dialogue: 0,0:10:48.26,0:10:50.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that dream letter came through my mailbox,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:50.53,0:10:52.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I did write a memoir,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:52.23,0:10:54.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,called "The Chronology of Water."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:54.89,0:10:59.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In it are the stories of how many times\NI've had to reinvent a self
Dialogue: 0,0:10:59.61,0:11:02.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from the ruins of my choices,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:02.58,0:11:07.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the stories of how my seeming failures\Nwere really just weird-ass portals
Dialogue: 0,0:11:08.01,0:11:09.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to something beautiful.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:10.31,0:11:13.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All I had to do\Nwas give voice to the story.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:15.55,0:11:19.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's a myth in most cultures\Nabout following your dreams.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:20.66,0:11:22.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's called the hero's journey.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:23.68,0:11:25.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I prefer a different myth,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:25.53,0:11:27.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's slightly to the side of that
Dialogue: 0,0:11:27.33,0:11:28.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or underneath it.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:29.09,0:11:30.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's called the misfit's myth.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:31.76,0:11:33.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it goes like this:
Dialogue: 0,0:11:33.62,0:11:35.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even at the moment of your failure,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:35.90,0:11:38.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,right then, you are beautiful.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:39.58,0:11:40.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You don't know it yet,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:40.76,0:11:43.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but you have the ability\Nto reinvent yourself
Dialogue: 0,0:11:43.96,0:11:45.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,endlessly.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:45.18,0:11:46.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's your beauty.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:47.69,0:11:49.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can be a drunk,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:49.23,0:11:51.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you can be a survivor of abuse,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:51.61,0:11:53.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you can be an ex-con,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:53.07,0:11:54.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you can be a homeless person,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:54.59,0:11:57.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you can lose all your money\Nor your job or your husband
Dialogue: 0,0:11:57.89,0:12:00.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or your wife, or the worst thing of all,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:00.33,0:12:01.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a child.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:01.86,0:12:03.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can even lose your marbles.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:03.94,0:12:08.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can be standing dead center\Nin the middle of your failure
Dialogue: 0,0:12:08.03,0:12:10.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and still, I'm only here to tell you,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:10.94,0:12:13.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you are so beautiful.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:13.07,0:12:15.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Your story deserves to be heard,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:15.40,0:12:19.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because you, you rare\Nand phenomenal misfit,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:19.69,0:12:21.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you new species,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:22.57,0:12:24.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are the only one in the room
Dialogue: 0,0:12:24.56,0:12:26.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who can tell the story
Dialogue: 0,0:12:26.20,0:12:28.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the way only you would.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:29.71,0:12:31.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'd be listening.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:32.86,0:12:34.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:34.06,0:12:45.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)