Sometimes LIFE calls for us to be more than just
S O M E T H I N G
THE ISLAND OF MISFIT TOYS
DO YOU REMEMBER THIS. . . ?
It came out in 2001 and I remember watching it with my kids and laughing with them and wondering are toys the only things that are
M I S F I T S. . .
Go ahead, watch it again
and catch some of the things you most likely didn’t notice
or maybe just glossed over
OR MAYBE
just didn’t want to see or recognize. . .
It’s odd
This version of
RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSE REINDEER AND THE ISLAND OF MISFIT TOYS
What about the bad guy named Mr. Cuddles, who kidnaps toys so kids will never outgrown them. Or, the blimp, a hippopotamus queen, all with Rudolph thinking about getting a nose job. Rudolph and his friends show up at this misfit island, where they meet a cast of quirky toys, sequestered away in their shame. There’s a CHARLIE-IN-THE-BOX, a bird that swims, and a cowboy who rides an ostrich. And yes, there is a chorus of music that kind of normalizes it like all music tries to do. They real each attribute that, in their own minds, gives them oddball status: There’s a spotted elephant, a choo-choo with square wheels, and a water pistol that shoots jelly. Together, wail about their quirks through song and proclaim, not so proudly,
“We’re all misfits!”
Now here’s the thing, I think this part was suppose to be sad, but I kind of missed the memo when I was watching this. A happy little island of honest misfits sounded like paradise to me. Can you imagine belonging to a community like that? Those who wouldn’t bother hiding THEIR WEIRD?
Wait. . .WHAT. . .
Oh, you’re a bird that swims in water? Well, Yippee! I ride an ostrich! You feel weird about your polka-dot skin? Well, check out my square wheels chugging down an off the track trail!
Seriously, in what universe would this be considered exile? These misfits have found their people! A truer tragedy would be faking perfect, hiding your spots, and trying to conform. The misfit toys have created a hopeful haven, and it’s what I kind of pray to discover; to have for myself and you, others. . .
That by just showing up each day, BOLDLY BROKEN,
your very own island might form or maybe, just maybe
we discover that we’ve never
NOT BEEN A PART OF IT ALL ALONG
All the same. . .
JOIN ME
R E C O G N I Z E
just how
W E I R D L Y
we are so much more alike
THAN NOT. . .
OLD JESUS
I saw an old Jesus
Walking through
A crowded waiting room
In a place
no one wanted to be
He Shuffle passed me
In faded, wrinkled pajama bottoms
And a lifeless gray T-shirt
Sipping on a stained Styrofoam
cup of coffee
He floated to a pause
In awe of the brightly colored fish
Swimming around a shiny but finger smudged aquarium
And they seemed to multiply
Wildly in a flurry of surreal color
that eyes could barely focus
and imaginations dare to envision
A Hand Out
became a Life Raft
My ice water took on a different taste of Merlot
that left a warm glow which seemed to illuminate within me
An ember that glowed
warmed
without incinerating
With a mere ever so light touch of his fingertips
Or a soft gaze of his eyes
One by one we were
metamorphosized
And then in a much
quicker than the blink of an eye
and way less subtle than the distinct note
from a shiny trumpet
There was a suddenness
Of difference
I not only forgot why I was there
I was in fact
No longer there
