Note to Self

Journal #7

Dear Self,

I remember many times my passion, purpose, and inner calling pulled me toward a new adventure. Sometimes, it looked like writing, sometimes music or teaching. Each time, something new. Something that seemed a little too loud for my precious small town, a bit too progressive for other’s perspectives, and a little taboo for reserved beliefs.

But none of those things were my own. The only things that truly ever belonged to me were my curiosities and my courage to follow them. Never knowing what I would find, I risked ridicule to do things I believed in. Was I to allow that projection of other people’s limitations to draw a box around my destiny? And was I to allow my fear of their judgment and criticism to lock me and throw away the key? Certainly not.

No matter what you do for profession or fun, you are a divine creator of your experiences. Do you paint your life with the many colours of your spirit, or do you work from a limited palette derived from someone else’s rules and objectives?

I encourage you to unleash your inner architect and design a life using the tools of bravery, courage, self-belief, discovery, and authenticity. The magnificence you’re capable of may intimidate those who don’t recognize their own power and threaten those comfortable with boxes. But you are meant to craft monumental skyscrapers that burst through the limitations that the world attempts to place on your existence and head straight for the sky. You won’t believe the view from up here.

Putting yourself out there makes you vulnerable to attacks, but a passionless existence to avoid other’s judgments would be the greater tragedy. Rather than give fear and bitterness the power to silence you, let love keep your voice strong.

Stay grounded in kindness and stay humble but unapologetic, even when heckled. You don’t need the approval of critics to live a life of purpose. Criticism is the price of impact. But the fulfilment found is so much greater.