Ideas change everything

The beauty of being a misfit

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Lidia Yuknavitch |

TED2016

• February 2016

To those who feel like they don't belong: there is beauty in being a misfit. Author Lidia Yuknavitch shares her own wayward journey in an intimate recollection of patchwork stories about loss, shame and the slow process of self-acceptance. "Even at the moment of your failure, you are beautiful," she says. "You don't know it yet, but you have the ability to reinvent yourself endlessly. That's your beauty."

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

To those who feel like they don't belong: there is beauty in being a misfit. Author Lidia Yuknavitch shares her own wayward journey in an intimate recollection of patchwork stories about loss, shame and the slow process of self-acceptance. "Even at the moment of your failure, you are beautiful," she says. "You don't know it yet, but you have the ability to reinvent yourself endlessly. That's your beauty."

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

Read our curation guidelines.

Sign up for a writing workshop. Lidia Yuknavitch teaches non-academic writing workshops for people who are interested in transformation via self expression.

About the speaker

Lidia Yuknavitch

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In her acclaimed novels and memoir, author Lidia Yuknavitch navigates the intersection of tragedy and violence to draw new roadmaps for self-discovery.

Learn more

The Chronology of Water

Lidia Yuknavitch | Hawthorne Books (2011)

Lidia Yuknavitch - *The Chronology of Water*

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Lidia Yuknavitch | Harper (2015)

Lidia Yuknavitch - *The Small Backs of Children*

The Misfit's Manifesto

Lidia Yuknavitch | TED Books (2017)

Lidia Yuknavitch - *The Misfit's Manifesto*

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

Read our curation guidelines.

Sign up for a writing workshop. Lidia Yuknavitch teaches non-academic writing workshops for people who are interested in transformation via self expression.