So this Current Thoughts may be a little different, but I am all about adventure and doing things differently. I recently came across a music video of the song This Is Me from The Greatest Showman. Now I have heard this song a million times (slight exaggeration), but for some reason with the current state of things swirling in my brain and swirling in the world, it landed a little differently. Especially the following excerpt:
I'm not a stranger to the dark
Hide away, they say
'Cause we don't want your broken parts
I've learned to be ashamed of all my scars
Run away, they say
No one will love you as you are
But I won't let them break me down to dust
I know that there's a place for us
For we are glorious
When the sharpest words wanna cut me down
I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out
I am brave, I am bruised
I am who I'm meant to be, this is me
Look out 'cause here I come
And I'm marching on to the beat I drum
I'm not scared to be seen
I make no apologies, this is me
I am sure I am not the only one who has ever had the experience of wanting to hide parts of ourselves, or have ever been told we were “too much”...you know…too loud, too quiet, too tall, too skinny, too straight, too queer, to this, too that…you get the picture. As a result of the “too much” we have tried to play small, attempted to fly just below the radar, hide or erase key parts of ourselves, or slip into the habit of apologizing for being who we are. And for what? To fit in or mold ourselves into some arbitrary definition of “normal” or “appropriate”? Yeah…no thanks! I am ready to let go of that baggage and step into something a little more interesting. And I have a sneaky suspicion so are you.
I believe that our own authentic expression is what the world needs now more than ever. The mystical spiritual powerhouse Howard Thurman wrote, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go and do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Coming alive can look different for each of us. It may be applying for that new job, writing that book, stepping into a new relationship, letting go of things that don’t serve us, engaging in activities and experiences that stir joy and passion in us. Regardless of what it looks like, what the world needs now more than ever is our willingness to be who we are. Not a boxed or packaged version, but the raw, authentic, and sometimes messy versions.
A funny thing happens when we are willing to be our authentic, unapologetic, and uncompromising selves…we create a space for others to do the same. Can you imagine a world where everyone is free to operate on the level of their most authentic expressions? I believe the systems, barriers, and downright nonsense that we experience on a daily basis would crumble into a heap of irrelevance. I am ready to work for a world where everyone is able to “come alive”! No more apologizing. No more hiding. No more playing small. This is me. This is all of us.
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