Assignment #9

Check out this manifesto.

Freak Factor

David Rendall’s article “Freak Factor” is basically challenging today’s conceptions that “flaws” need to be fixed, strengths and weaknesses need to be worked on simultaneously, and that if you don’t fit in to society you must adjust yourself to be like everyone else. One segment of his article is titled “Focus: You Can’t Do Both”. I definitely think that this suggestion makes a lot of sense and could be seen as valid. It is obvious when you think about it that it is difficult to do two things at once. In everyday situations, if you focus on one thing more than something else, you will work on that one thing while the others will be put on the backburner. While multitasking is possible, in general you will not be able to pay attention to everything all the time; you will be force to focus on one task. The same is true with weaknesses and strengths. If you work on one, the other will fall behind. I believe this is something that directly pertains to my life as a creative person. I have already thought about this subject, and I decided awhile ago that I would much rather focus on what I do well, what I want with my life, and who I inspire to be rather than focus on what those close to me think about me and what society expects. So in these respects I already have implanted this idea into my everyday life.

In another section of his article, Rendall titles his discussion “What’s my problem”. He lists things that he has been called throughout his lifetime. After labeling himself he proceeds to be somewhat cocky and state that he has achieved success even with these stereotypical “weaknesses”. He talks about how he became accustomed with his weaknesses, and instead of trying to dispel them, he molded his life and goals to build strengths from them. This is blatantly valid in my opinion; why work so hard to get rid of a weakness when you can just plan ahead to compensate for, if not exemplify, that “weakness”. Personally, I am very scatterbrained and am told so on nearly a daily basis. While many people label that as a negative trait, as it turns out it allows me to come up with ideas seemingly at random. While some people struggle in coming up with thoughts for say a project or what to write about, I typically have the exact opposite problem; I have too many ideas to sort through them all, and it becomes difficult to focus my thoughts into a slow enough stream that I can produce something coherent. I choose not to see this as a weakness, but rather as a strength that gives me an upper hand as a creative thinker and a writer. I believe that if someone is constantly being told how they are or who they are, and if they are “weak-minded” enough to believe them, they eventually mold to those expectations. If more people chose to ignore those around them and to see themselves in a light that shows off their strengths, there would be more creative minds doing amazing work.

In Rendall’s third section, “Flawless: There’s Nothing Wring With You”, he discusses addictions. Once again, I also believe his points here are valid. I have argued more than once about addictions. Typically, addictions are seen as something detrimental to people. When thinking of addictions, the mind tends to wander to images of drugs and alcohol. People tend to overlook other addictions. I have been accused of being addicted to working out; I feel weak and self-conscious when I go through a span of time without going to the gym. I have been accused of being addicted to “trying to be above everyone else; I get ridiculed for not feeling the need to get intoxicated every waking moment. I have even been accused of being addicted to people; I am in a long-term, long-distance relationship that is one of the main focuses of my life. The point is that addictions can take many forms. Like Rendall, I do not perceive addictions as a bad thing. In fact, I think if channeled correctly they can be some of the most profound influences on success. The fact that I am addicted to certain things in my life is not detrimental to my creative process. I believe that the addictions, strengths, and weaknesses I possess will eventually lead me to any level of success I desire.

While I accept and validate Rendall’s arguments, there is one thing that I dislike the wording of. I do not believe in separating strengths from weaknesses. In my opinion, by labeling them, he is still operating under society’s expectations that some things are “bad”; weaknesses, and some are “good”; strengths. If we just title them as traits or characteristics, it takes a step to eliminate the connotations that go with weaknesses. So as far as my personal characteristics go, I am adept at picking up information without really paying that much attention, I struggle sometimes working as a group because I crave control over every aspect of something that my name and reputation are going to be stamped on, and I love every aspect of writing. I am organized in some aspects, but extremely scatter-brained and chaotic in others. I am completely dedicated to tasks and projects; but only when they interest me. I am assertive for some matters, but other times I enjoy sitting back and listening to whatever is pouring out of others mouths. I am passionate about things to a point of obsession. Whether these traits are good or bad, strengths or weaknesses in regards to my creative life, is up to the reader. Personally, I believe that I cannot change who I am or the life I lead; in that respect I agree with Rendall. That being said, I also believe that achievement is based upon desire, and that, as cheesy as it sounds, if you want to gain success you can obtain it from pure passion and motivation.