Misfit is a funny word. And yet even for those who don't, as Lidia Yuknavitch does, identify as a "card-carrying misfit," it likely brings along a twang of recognition. After all, everyone everywhere has experienced at least a moment or two when, actually, everything everywhere didn't seem to fit quite right. Right?

When I watched Susan Cain's TED Talk on the power of introverts, I was stunned. She opened my eyes to the fact that introverts are responsible for so much of the creativity and generosity in the world, yet they're treated like second-class citizens in many of our homes, schools and workplaces. They're some of our greatest leaders, yet they're usually passed over in promotion and election decisions. And they're the people who remind us to make time in our lives for reflection, yet we don't reflect on their contributions often enough.

Have you ever watched a talk so relatable that you started asking: "How did this guy know my story? Did he steal my journal? Can he read my mind?"

Thirty-four years of working in the mass media have taught me one thing: never to trust the mass media.

One evening, while still a student studying architecture, Michael Murphy took a break from an all-nighter to attended a lecture by Dr. Paul Farmer, a health advocate for the global poor...