"I don't want my thoughts to die with me. I want to have done something"
~Temple Grandin~
The thing is, we may not entirely understand why we were created the way we are, but the "why" is almost irrelevant. It doesn't matter why, it only matters what we do with it.
There was a great line in this movie where Temple clearly feels passionately about a subject even though she sees the world differently. She says emphatically, "I don't want my thoughts to die with me. I want to have done something".
It doesn't matter if we're different, don't fit in, don't see the world as others do. Our task is not to let ourselves be defined by institutions that already exist, but instead to create our own institutions, our own movement. It is our natural impulse to create, to express, to expand, but we can only do so within our own perspective.
And who is to say that our perspective is wrong?
The movie I'm talking about is based on Temple's memoir called "Emergence: Labeled Autistic". It is about Ms. Grandin's journey of being diagnosed autistic and told she should be institutionalized. It's about how she navigated through her world of autism coming to peace with her differences and in fact, becoming a pioneer spokesperson on the subject of autism.
Even though she was teased and considered "weird" by her piers growing up, Temple was eventually recognized by a mentor, for her unique talents and abilities. He encouraged her to keep up her studies. He recognized her brilliant mind and with his encouragement, she went on to earn her Ph.D in the Animal Sciences and create a successful career as a livestock handling equipment designer (one of very few in the world).
Not in spite of, but because of her autism- because of her heightened sensitivity, intelligence and ability to think in pictures - she was able to better design the facilities in which half the cattle are handled in the United States today. She is now a consultant for such firms as Burger King, McDonalds and others.
I loved this movie for all of its implications - that different does not mean abnormal and that labels can be misleading. But more than that, I loved it because there was a sense of grace that accompanied her. It illustrated how we are supported in our success and comforted in our struggles.
Even if we are not understood by our piers, even if our family doesn't support our choices, even if we take a path less traveled or recognized, even if we are marginalized by society because of our differences, there is something divinely ordained that accompanies us.
In other words, there appears to be a divine orchestration that occurs through synchronicity, chance, serendipity, or what I call grace, that helps us along the way. The mentor we need, the book that falls in our lap, the article we are forwarded, the stranger we meet, the unlikely friend that comes to our aid - it is almost as if the universe conspires to inspire us. We are supported in our journeys, without having to ask.
This is what the movie illustrates.
That, even though we may not see mirrors of ourselves everywhere that approve of our differences, we are still seen quite clearly by the universe and supported in our becoming.
Labels were created to keep things neat and tidy and identifiable, but life is big and messy sometimes. There are people who have been called on to color outside the lines, to discover new territory, to forge a path that hasn't yet been created.
We could choose to feel diminished by our differences, but we could choose to champion them as well.
That's what I loved about this movie. It was triumphant.
Not because of the happy ending, and the way Temple Grandin succeeded in her pursuits in the end. But because she refused to let her diagnosis define her. She refused to doubt herself. She was "different", not "less" and no one could tell her otherwise.
Last year, Temple Grandin was listed in the "2010 Times 100", the magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Who would we become if we let ourselves defy the norm? If we let ourselves think outside the box? What would we create? What would we become if we dared ourselves to accept our differences and create from THAT place?
What would happen next, I wonder.
Wishing you a year of boldness, genius and magical creations. Happy 2011
To learn more about Temple Grandin, click here.
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