Often, those who tread off the beaten path are misunderstood or mischaracterized and so we asked folks from the community to reflect and tell us about the times they’ve been misunderstood or mischaracterized.

Terence Julius

I Don’t follow Certain Trends or keep up with Cultural or Societial Views I don’t live my life and Create Art following a Formula or Running A Rat Race I am My own Muse My own Man Creating my Own Damn Rules People get Intimidated by that because they’re Mysteriously Thriving off the Same Plateau ….It’s Cool to call me Misunderstood They’re Just One Dimensional Distorted Dangerous Delusion Thinkers They Laugh They Gossip They Copy and try to be your friend when they realize they can’t Keep up with you. I always Pay ’em in Dust and Silence and Let God deal with them Swiftly and Expenditiously. MISCHARACTERIZED? Lol , Read more>>

Trevor Motes

I felt very mischaracterized during most of my time in college. I moved to California when I was 18 to study film in college, and I noticed very quickly that people wanted to be known for a certain role or job when it came to making films. I grew up in a small town in Texas, not knowing much about movies or what it takes to get one made, so when I enrolled at film school in California, my first few months were rough because everybody seemed to know what they wanted to do; everyone seemed to know everything about movies and how they’re supposed to be made, which made me feel behind and lesser than everyone. Read more>>

Eternity

I remember being asked by a prestigious pageant coach, “Who are you?” As I was preparing for a national pageant, I hesitantly answered, sharing my aspirations and strengths, only to be met with blunt remarks that questioned my worth. This coach, who was supposed to empower me, instead said things like, “You’re not enough of this,” “You’re too much of that,” or “You’ll probably end up as this.” These small comments made me second-guess myself and started to discredit my own ambitions. It wasn’t just my dreams and talents that felt mischaracterized—it was like this person was casting doubt on my entire future. Read more>>