Don't Let The World Dim Your Shine!

Ever since I was younger, I have always loved to write. It wasn't the act itself or the product I wound up with that lit me up, but rather the emotion and energy that I put into the words. The way that I could express my thoughts through the written word felt freeing and empowering. No matter how people reacted to my writing, I felt on top of the world when someone would read it. Until I got further into my journey of education, and writing became a harshly judged assignment.

Being the only subject in school that is partially graded using a biased opinion of personal creativity, writing became a modality of disappointment in my life. There I was, blissfully expressing my mind through writing and when I turned it in to receive a grade, the teacher/professor used harsh opinion to express how they personally felt about my writing. This was usually a negative comment. Perhaps it was due to my lack of effort learning grammar or specific, advanced terminology. Or maybe because I had issues following the prompt the way that the teacher expected of us. Regardless, the way that my writing was judged as I grew up and went through different systems of education, always ended in disappointment in myself, in my ability to express my thoughts, and in my intelligence. A bad grade was a bad grade but a negative, written comment on my expression of thoughts was very discouraging.

One of the biggest things we will regret at the end of our lives is caring more about what other people think than our own self expression. This experience, this life, it's only going to last as long as it does. You will only be this version of yourself for as long as it lasts. Eventually, the journey will end. What does your soul need to do while you are here, just as you are? What do you desire to experience that you are too afraid or too inhibited by judgment to do? Set. Yourself. Free.

So that is exactly what I did. I realized that since I had stopped taking college courses, writing didn't have to be just for an assignment like it had almost always felt. I suddenly felt led to write for myself when my life took a crazy turn. I had to document my experiences in a journal just to move through them and understand the immense changes I was going through. This led to the discovery that my writing was actually a beautiful tool of release and not a sack of junk that my school teachers had always led me to believe. I felt the passion and emotion in my writing, I felt the emotional release when I wrote about things that made my heart ache. I discovered the feeling of pride in myself again when people read my writing, except this time they had positive feedback rather than judgment! 

I was stunned at how much growth I had experienced when it came to my writing skills. Or is it possible that I was just never open to believing that I could create beautiful experiences through my words with all of those critical adults telling me how sub par my writing skills were? Was I distracted from a natural ability because I chose to listen to the opinions of others? I missed out on years of loving myself through writing just because I told myself "they are right, I am no good." Not anymore!

I knew that I had something good going on with the way that I expressed my thoughts through writing because it felt good to me... but I assumed that the critics in my life knew more about myself and my abilities than I did. Looking back now, it seems so ridiculous that I would give others that sort of power in my life, but I did and now I am left with the thought, "why?" Because I didn't yet see that knowing my own worth was more important than listening to the opinions of others. I let the world dim my shine, I let critics and naysayers take away something that I truly enjoyed doing and that comes natural to me. For years I kept myself from writing, something that ended up saving my sanity when my world came crashing down.

Now, writing is something that I do nearly everyday. I believe my words help heal myself and those who may take something from them. I also believe that whatever it is I put out there through my writing can also inspire each and every mind that skims over them. I will forever print my thoughts on paper through the oddly fasincating shapes we call letters, watching the world change because of it, all the while refusing to regress into the version of me that let the world dim my shine for so long. 

This shine is never going away, not at the hands of anyone but my own. I encourage each and every individual that is brought to these words for a reason to NEVER let the world take away who you are. Don't let other people control your life experience, don't give them the power to make you feel as if you shouldn't be yourself or that there isn't inherent worth within your self-expression. In the end, those who pass us by and give a glance of non-acceptance serve no purpose on our journeys except to teach us of this very lesson. The lesson of self acceptance and unconditional love, because with these aspects of your being intact, every single form of self expression is a beautiful kiss on this world, left for all to see who we really are and why we are here.

Your light is your legacy and no one else's. Shine bright, all of you beautiful, unique souls! Never let the world dim your shine :)