Love
"Love takes off masks we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within." - James Baldwin
It can be so tempting to only present the polished, carefully crafted version of ourselves in an effort to be accepted. We want people to like us. We want people to stay. We spend our lives masquerading around while searching for someone who can see and love us as we are in spite of the masks that keep our true selves hidden.
We are more than our smiles and pleasantries and clean rooms and perfectly angled photos.
We long for connection yet create separation through barriers set up to keep us safe. We build walls in self protection but find ourselves boxed in. We wear masks to be more digestible to others while feeling stifled and stuck and small.
May we shed our gilded veneers, choosing bravely to bare ourselves in the light of the full sun. May we have the courage to Show Up fully and in alignment with our beliefs/values/needs, embracing our authentic selves even when it isn't the "safe" bet or doesn't' fit societal expectations and cultural conditioning. May we find the people who can hold space for the entirety of us, even the parts that haven't been vetted with a gold star of approval by the PR firm taking up space in our heads. And may we give ourselves permission to be beautifully and wonderfully whole, flaws and all.
Also in Artwork
Bloom where you are planted
This is a lesson I've been leaning into a lot lately. In life, there will always be things we cannot control -- things that uproot us from our comfort zones or that test how we define our happiness. And in the midst of those things we cannot change, we have a choice.
"You are worthy of love and belonging." - Brene Brown
A friend asked what advice I'd give to my younger self. While there are lots of things I'd tell the young me, the single biggest one would be this: allow yourself to believe that you are worthy of love and belonging -- and live according to your truth, unencumbered by this fear...
Sending Light
One of the hardest things in life is to witness the suffering of our loved ones when there isn't anything we can do to relieve their pain. In those moments, may we lean in -- without the urge to fix -- and offer to sit with them in the dark. May they know that they don't have to package their pain to be digestible for others.