Creative people can feel “There’s something wrong with me.”

I was kind of a misfit little kid and bullied at school.” –?Sara Bareilles

Not fitting in with others and feeling weird is a common experience for many of us.

A number of artists have found creative work is a way to express their unique personalities and talents, and feel accepted.

Singer-songwriter, actress and author?Sara Bareilles?made her Broadway performing debut as Jenna in the musical?Waitress.

She also composed music and wrote lyrics for the show, earning a Tony Award nomination for Best Original Score in 2016, and a Grammy nomination for Best Musical Theatre Album.

An article notes she grew up in a theatre-loving home.

“My mom and my sisters were all very involved in community theatre, and so I would go as a little girl, and I’m much younger, nine years younger than my oldest sister and six years younger than my middle sister,” says Bareilles.

“I would go and see their productions and just couldn’t wait to get onstage.

“I was kind of a misfit little kid and bullied at school, so finding the theatrical community was a great home for me very early on.

“It’s where I felt like I could really be myself and be the little weirdo I was and not be judged for it.”

Many creative, sensitive, intense and/or gifted teens and adults sometimes feel they are misfits.

One example was John Lennon – he once said:

“There was something wrong with me, I thought, because I seemed to see things other people didn’t see.”

"I was hip in kindergarten. I was different from the others. I was different all my life."

He commented in an interview about lyrics for “Strawberry Fields Forever" - The second verse goes, “No one I think is in my tree.”

"Well, I was too?shy and self-doubting. Nobody seems to be as hip as me is what I was saying. Therefore, I must be crazy or a genius.."

Therapist?Sharon Barnes?works with creative, sensitive, intense and/or gifted teens and adults, and hears from many of them statements like Lennon made.

She comments, “In my counseling office talking to people face to face across the room and as I’m at my computer connecting with people around the world, I hear so many people who feel discouraged and feel like a?misfit, like they don’t belong because of their characteristics.

“Some even tell me that they feel like they’re?aliens from a different planet.

“I’ve begun to hear it more and more and more and I’m no longer surprised at the people who tell me this – I’m saddened yes but that’s one of the reasons that I’m here is that there’s so many people who feel like a misfit and feel like an alien – people with these important characteristics that we really need.”

See more quotes and videos in my original article: Creative people can feel “There’s something wrong with me.”