FREAK FACTOR: Discovering Uniqueness by Flaunting Weakness

Read David Rendall's, FREAK FACTOR and see what you think!

David Rendall's, FREAK FACTOR: Discovering Uniqueness by Flaunting Weakness, is an article about how people living in the creative world need to let loose and be unique. He gives nine suggestions about how we can overcome weaknesses in our lives. You can’t be scared of who you are or if people will judge you. You just have to go with your first instinct, be unique, be different, be crazy, just be yourself whoever that may be. After reading Rendall’s article, I have chosen three of his nine suggestions that I believe are most valid and that I can apply to my creative life.

The first suggestion I found to be most valid is Rendall’s second suggestion. He explains that we all have weaknesses. We all think that trying to fix our weaknesses is what will make us better people but that is not the case. Through our weaknesses we will find our strengths. He is hyperactive and can’t sit still so now he is paid to stand up and talk. He can’t be a team player so he chooses to work for himself. It is not realistic to fix al of our weaknesses and make us “better people”. Instead, we find those weaknesses and make them into our strong points. We turn out weaknesses into our strengths. I know I have a lot of weaknesses and until I read this article I felt that I could fix all of that. Well, I just realized I cannot directly fix my weaknesses but I can make myself into a better person by finding my strengths through my weaknesses just like Rendall does. One of my weaknesses is that I can’t take myself seriously. In my future I will work in the creative world so I am going to have to attempt to take myself seriously. I can deal with this weakness by putting it into my art. I can produce films that are not about serious topics; maybe comedy will become my cup of tea. Another weakness of mine is not being able to public speak. In my future, maybe I will work behind the scenes and make my once weakness into a new strength.

The next suggestion that I found to be valid is Rendall’s third suggestion. In this suggestion he explains that we are technically all flawless. He also provides a list of strengths that have corresponding weaknesses. I completely agree with him. I think that when someone has a strength, there will always be a weakness to follow. There is no person out there that is perfect, although some people think they are. You cannot be ashamed of a weakness that you have because that means that you also have a strength that goes along with it. Some of the examples Rendall provides, I see in friends of mine and in myself. Now that I have been made aware of this case, I’m not ashamed of the weaknesses I have because I have great strengths to go along with those weaknesses. This suggestion can be applied to my creative life because in my future I will be dealing with a lot of bosses and co-workers who will most definitely point out my flaws. Now, instead of getting down on myself, I will just think of my strengths that go with that flaw and not let the flaws get to me but rather embrace them because they are a part of who I am.

The last suggestion that I found to be valid is Rendall’s eighth suggestion. In this suggestion he explains the power of uniqueness. He discusses the Leaning Tower of Pisa and how millions of people go to visit the tower just because it is unique. You live your entire life with people telling you to be better, be stronger, stand up straight, and stop being a freak. Take a second and think, people who are unique go so much further in life and in the creative world. Embrace your uniqueness; get people from all over the world to come see you because you are different. In today’s day, it’s not common to be like everyone else, it is common to be different. So go out there and be yourself, I guarantee you won’t be like the person standing to the right of you! This suggestion can be applied to my creative life because in order to be successful in the media industry, you need the next best idea. It is really hard to come up with something that no one else has done before. If you are unique you may have a little big more of an advantage. So love who you are, be unique, and come up with the next greatest idea that the media world has never seen!

I mentioned before what some of my weaknesses were. I cannot speak in public. I can be impatient at times, and I have a hard time taking life seriously. To someone who has not read this article, they will see my weaknesses and think that I will never get anywhere in life. But, little do they know, I will go somewhere. My not being able to speak in public means that I do great one-on-one which means I can network like its my job. My impatience can sometimes be a big problem but it also comes with my strength, which is passion. I have passion for everything I do which I think is a great quality. You need to love your job and the work you are doing, otherwise what is the point of working so hard and dragging yourself out of bed everyday. Be passionate, even if it means you are impatient. Your strength, in this case, may just outweigh your weakness. Lastly, me not being able to take life seriously, well maybe that isn’t a great weakness but, sometimes its ok to laugh a little and lighten the mood. Everything does not need to be taken seriously. These qualities make me unique and the person I am. These are the qualities that are behind my creative ideas and will follow me throughout my creative life that lies ahead of me. I can’t wait to show the world the freak inside of me!