Let me be Franklin's Nobody!

"Who is wise? He that learns from everyone. Who is powerful? He that governs his passions. Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody."

Benjamin Franklin

I'm walking through life being overlooked because people see right through me. Then along comes Mr Happy and takes me to the Wizard and he turns me into Mr Yellow. It seems being the "right color" is better than being a nobody who is easily overlooked. At least that was my cursory take on the 47th Mr Men story. I wonder if there was a hint of adult irony in the fact Mr Nobody became Mr Yellow? Mr Happy also happens to be yellow, so did poor Mr Nobody's successful ability to become "somebody" require him to look a lot like Mr Happy?

Mr Nobodies tend to be unique. They don't look like anyone else so they can be overlooked, but I'm willing to be transparent if it means I'm unique.

Here is one form of transparency: I try hard to learn from everyone. I try hard to govern my passions. I try hard to be content. On those occasions when I succeed I become Mr Nobody. For the act of learning from everyone makes my convictions seem invisible to those who learn only from the "right" people. The act of governing my passions makes my strength invisible to those who define strength by one's willingness to unleash passion recklessly. And the act of being content makes my ambition seem illusory to those who demand that I too be overtly demanding.

There is an awesome quotation from one of my favorite authors that I go back to again and again for inspiration when I feel stymied in my ongoing aspiration to be a successful Mr Nobody.

Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!

I'll probably read the Mr Men stories to my kids as part of their literary development but I'll be sure to also include many other stories of exceptional people living outside what is considered "normal."

I think Franklin's Mr Nobody is an awesome man. I also think this paragon is so overlooked in society that we assume Nobody is another word for Imaginary. 

We keep trying to paint each other with "magic" paint to help each other become "somebody" because it makes us easier to see and therefore easier to label. Perhaps it would be better to allow people to be more transparent and less conforming to whatever "normal" we are accustomed to. 

I wonder if I started "Clan Nobody" would I be the only member of my this new clan?