A Bridge to the Island of Misfit Toys, or Faeries meet Internet

Faeries have many survival skills, from knowing where to forage for sustenance (coffeeshops!) to getting out of a jam (alternate routes!) to getting jam *out* (cool water and white vinegar - thank you, Heloise!) - but one of the most important skills we've learned is how to protect our hearts.

You see, one of the driving forces that attracts one to the Faerie life is this feeling that somehow the difference you feel in yourself isn't so different after all. It's the seventh sense that out there, somewhere, there are others who share your unique sensibilities, your love of glitter, your propensity to giggle, your easy enthusiasm. 

Someday, a friend will come!

You just know that you'll meet someone to whom you'll be able to solemnly say, "The oddball in me honors the oddball in you"...and then you can both put your faces really close together and grin like crazy!

Kind of like this! *laugh*

It is a soul satisfying thing to find others who not only allow but embrace your idiosyncrasies, and to revel in their own brand of bizarreness. Our Happily Ever Laughter population is a small and career-centric knot inside a more diverse community of people who might not don wings for work, but who share the same level of zeal and drive, and are not too timid to shine.

However. It is weird to talk about work when a) most people don't seem to share the same eagerness and b) your job is so shiny on the surface that it blinds others to the deeper side.

Inbox. What you don't see is the pile of insurance forms *under* that corset that I was equally excited about! Yay, math!

That's why I was thrilled when this morning, I got a message from a long-ago friend saying she'd discovered this marvelous piece by Lauren Davis, "What Does It Take To Become a Professional Faerie Princess?". It's so hard to describe how pervasive the magic of the job is in everyday life, and I thought, "Yay! Now I have something I can show to people to help them understand!"

Then I started to read the comments, and I was blown away by the outpouring of positivity and like-minded lovers of the peculiar (and glittery!). I am no stranger to internet comment boards, and I find that they're usually disproportionately malicious and abrasive compared to face-to-face interaction. Not so here. The number of comments expressing feelings of solidarity and support despite a different career path warmed my heart. 

I loved that this article showed the difference between fairy and Faerie, and that that divide can be understood as universally translatable. We all put on 'costumes' and do various tasks; that is a very basic concept of what a job is - and if you look at jobs that way, Faeries and Engineers, Chefs and Nurses have zero intersection. It's the fervent intensity, dedication, and full-on "I love this thing so much that I'm going to learn everything I possibly can about it until I can get inside of it and live there because it completes me"-ness that brings us together, regardless of where our passions lie.

I felt that it had most unfortunately become the norm to feel neutral to negative about one's occupation. What I have happily discovered is that there are still fellow weirdos out there who go to work with fierce enthusiasm and reckless excitement. The Island of Misfit Toys takes all kinds - thank you for joining us on this very sparkly journey *smile*.

Careers and Chrysanthemums,
Violet