There’s a fear that if we were to take off our masks, let out our gut, and reveal our ugliness, we will lose our jobs, friends and even our sense of self.
There is legitimacy to that fear, which makes the risks to lay it all out there even more terrifying. People are rejected every day for lesser things than saying how they really feel. Teens are bullied for wearing the wrong outfit. Celebrities get berated for an unflattering hairstyle.
What happens to those who decide to risk their vulnerability? Do they cower in their boldness? Do they shake in their stripes and spots? Are they ostracized and then forever isolated to an island of abandoned weirdos?
Most often not.
Usually what happens is when they pull off the cloaks, they attract a following. The hidden peer out of their caves braving their own tin hearts, and broken bodies. It’s how we’re supposed to be, like a soup of unique spiny vegetables, exotic spices and wild meat. Each providing a signature flavor that would not exist without the other.
I read this in the August issue of O magazine:
“I knew it was mathematically impossible that I was the only dancer struggling with autism, anxiety, and depression. Still, the ballet world rejects any sort of weakness: We’re supposed to be perfect, silent, ethereal angels…Every teacher I’ve had has told me, ‘Leave everything at the door when you come in here.’ But to dismiss mental illness as a weakness that you can just muscle through is foolish at best, dangerous at worst.
So about two years ago, I came clean on Instagram and started sharing my troubles…I still book regular work as a dancer, so I don’t know if my openness has affected my hirability. If it has, to be perfectly honest, I don’t care. Being real is more important than any job.” – Sydney Magruder @TheBlackSwanDiaries
If you’re doubting whether to show your face out of fear that you will die of embarrassment, shame or rejection, think about that younger you who is out there desperate to shed their wool, waiting for the armor you already wear, waiting for a you to courageously share your shadow and bring it to light. Imagine that person and all the gold you can shimmer in their own life by shining the beauty of your soul.
Your true self and that person are waiting for you.
Because when you take that step you redefine what is okay. You transform abnormal into every day. You send out a signal in the darkest of the night, that it’s not only okay to be you, but that it’s wanted, needed and prayed for.