Give Yourself Permission to Be Seen.
What is your relationship with being seen? Do you let people see you? And when I say see, I mean really SEE you.
If the thought alone made you anxious or dismissive, this is for you.
For the person who has been hiding their voice, hiding their gifts, hiding their face and just generally keeping themselves…small.
Yes sis, I am talking to you. (But don’t worry, I am talking to me too)
The one who has all the opinions, all the ideas but refuses to let them see the light of day? And for what reason? Judgment? What is it?
When did you become so fearful of being seen?
I have this very vivid memory of when I was around 4 or 5 at my paternal grandparents' home in Columbus, GA. My grandfather turned on the radio (yes the actual radio) and MC Hammer’s U Can’t Touch This came on. I jumped up and started dancing all around the living room. My family just watched and cheered me on. As far as I was concerned, the world was my stage. I had nothing to hide. No shame. No fear. Just doing me.
Cue middle school.
I signed up for every talent show possible. I still had no fear. I just knew I loved to dance, express myself and share my talents. I unapologetically gave my opinions at the dinner table with my family, at school with friends and heck, even in random message boards with strangers on AIM (IYKYK). I didn’t care too much about what I wore, what I said, what I did (I always cared about my hair though,THAT has stayed consistent). Generally, I was very comfortable in my skin.
Cue the beginning of high school - same thing.
And then it happened. Some time in my teenage years, I started to become somewhat reclusive in my thoughts and opinions. I became more fearful of sharing. Scared to voice my thoughts and ideas. I still HAD THEM. But I was hesitant to share them and express myself fully.
Now this is crazy because I literally grew up performing on a stage!
But I mean, there could be lots of reasons for this shift, maturity, puberty (would love to see the writers of Pixar’s Inside Out explain this one) growing up in “cancel culture”, anxiety, wanting to keep some things sacred and then there is just plain ol’ insecurity.
I thought twice before sharing an opinion out of fear of what others may think or sounding dumb. I felt imposter syndrome over things I was more than qualified to speak or share on. I would bow myself out of races before even getting to the starting line.
I wouldn’t allow (and sometimes still wont) people to really SEE me.
Why are some people so fearless when it comes to sharing their thoughts and voicing their opinions, while others retreat? Sometimes I go down a rabbit hole thinking of how many opportunities I probably missed out on just because I was afraid to put myself out there. (Heavy sigh) Live and learn right?
From what I have started to understand is that these people, the ones who aren’t scared, have a high level of trust in themselves and are truly grounded in who they are.
If you truly believe what you are sharing and it is coming from a genuine place, what reason do you have to falter? Why are you questioning your abilities and your beliefs? It was placed in you for a reason.
Now I am not saying you have to go share every single detail of your life, I’m just saying we all have a unique voice and a story. Why not share that? Why would God place all that creativity and power in you to not be shared?
We have ONE life and one life only. We don’t get a redo to come back as this person we are right now!
If you don’t do it for anyone else, do it for your younger self. The unapologetic, unafraid little girl/boy in you.
Sooo show them off, speak up for them, let them live! And spoiler alert, nobody is going to come give you permission to do this. You have to give it to yourself. (but here is a little nudge from me =) )
I recently did a photoshoot with one of my friends to get some updated headshots. It has been a long time since I saw myself in front of a camera from someone else’s perspective. I realized this was actively a practice of letting myself be seen. The camera doesn’t lie.
Our energy, attitude, spirit, insecurities, flaws, attributes and everything can be captured on film.
Seeing myself in that light gave me energy. It reminded me of the things I wanted to work on and most importantly it reminded me of my power. We are all deserving of this. (This is your sign to book a shoot for yourself).
I feel like God is putting me in a position where I will be needing to use my voice more so I am slowly breaking back out of my shell. So even creating this blog was an act of obedience.
I’m ready to start sharing my voice again and to be seen.
Because… I have lived some life! Especially over these past few years and I got something to say.
I challenge you to share one idea or project you have been hiding this week. Share it with a friend, a family member - maybe even it write it in a journal! Taking things out of our mind into the real world has a powerful effect. Who knows what might come of it? =)
So shout out to us not allowing our voices or light to be dimmed!
It’s time for you to lean in.
Trust yourself.
