In Praise of Dreamers, Mavericks, Malcontents and Restless Souls

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And 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.” -Apple, Inc.

I was at a party once where a man came up to me and introduced himself. When he found out that I was a psychotherapist he asked me about my work. When I told him that I worked with normal people on life issues ranging from work to relationships he asked me what normal was. Of course, being someone who had thought about this I had an answer for him, but what I saw as I talked to him was that he, along with a lot of other people I discuss my work with, wanted to distinguish between the people who were my clients and those who were not. He wanted to call himself normal and those who would seek out a counselor as abnormal.

And maybe he was right, maybe people who seek to find meaning in their lives, who seek to learn and grow, to get better at negotiating the rapids and undercurrents of life are in many ways abnormal since the normal person wants to see himself as already knowing how to do this. Maybe in the old days when we lived among our tribe and it did indeed take a village to raise us up to adulthood, we did know this or had a lot of help at hand, for free to make this true. But now we live in urban and suburban neighborhoods with virtual strangers and the only wise elder we have access to are found on our computers, in the books we read, the movies we see and the politicians we listen to and support, but in truth we really don’t know these people. They bombard us on a daily basis with ideas designed to sell us something or teach us something, or to get us to try something. Ten ways to that, twenty ways to this and a hundred ideas we never knew we didn’t know until NOW! We have Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz and Dr. Drew – all telling us what is normal and what is not and what to do about it. It’s enough to blow your mind or at least make you wonder about your own normality.

But here’s the deal, being disturbed about something, being a malcontent, a maverick, a restless soul or someone who dreams of a better world, these are the people who make things happen since discontent is the fuel that runs the engine of change. Malcontents shake up the status quo and make new things happen. Mavericks question authority and keep the wheels of justice going in the right direction. Dreamers come up with ideas to make the world a better place and then go about making this happen. Restless souls stir up our passions and get things moving.

Rosa Parks was a maverick when she decided to sit in the front of the bus. Betty Freidan was a malcontent when she wrote her book the Feminine Mystique back in the 60’s which helped to ignite a new women’s movement. Steve Jobs was a restless soul when he went to India and studied the mystics and then came back home, got fired from Apple then started Pixar and then came back to Apple and helped to change the world with the Iphone, the Ipad and who knows what else. Louis and Clark were restless souls who wanted to explore a world unknown to white men and find the perfect route to the Pacific Northwest. Eleanor Roosevelt was a malcontent when she decided that she had other ideas about being a first lady and went down into the coal mines, wrote her weekly newspaper column and became a force to be reckoned with on her own terms.

But what about those of us who don’t have a directly obvious cause or focus – are we simply abnormal folks who don’t fit in with the mainstream and therefore should be pitied as the man I met at the party seemed to be doing when he talked about my clients as being, if not abnormal, then at least not normal. But being normal for some of us is not our mission in life, it’s not our reason for being. If you find that in your life you have been accused of being a restless soul, of being a malcontent, of being a maverick or even as Apple called it, a crazy one, then take note, there is a place for you here and I can help you find it.

Now, don’t get me wrong here, there are some people who fall into this category who are indeed abnormal, odd, weird souls, even what some might call lost souls, people who are hurting, disturbed and very dysfunctional, but I doubt any of them will be reading a blog on how to live a renaissance life so this is not for them. This is for those of you who are normal but restless, normal but dream of a better world, normal but not satisfied with the status quo, normal but wanting to live a more meaningful life, one where you are at the helm of change, innovation and creativity.

Maybe you’re a writer, a musician, an artist, a teacher, an inventor, a person with a cause you want to champion, a vision you have but don’t know how to implement it, a person with a passionate feeling about something that you want to impact but are unsure how to make that happen, or you just know there is something here for you to do but you are just not sure what it is and need direction in how to find it. This is where I come in. My work is about helping people who fit these categories. I have online, one-on-one and other programs designed to help you find your true and authentic self and what you are here to do and how to make that happen. I would love to talk to you about this. Please either call (303-273-5589) or email (lorrainebanfield@msn.com) me and see if my programs can help you or someone you know. Please feel free to send the link to my blog to anyone you know who might benefit from my work. I do a few pro bono clients a year, so even if someone can’t afford this right now, you never know how connecting with me could change their life or yours.

And remember, as the Apple Ad says, “…the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” So let’s get busy changing the world, one person at a time, and I think we should start with you!

Blessings, Lorraine