And much as I enjoy Pinterest-surfing for its high mindless quotient, I found myself rolling this idea around in my thoughts over and over again. I often talk too much, I definitely write and text too much, and I do both because I want to be clear. Really, though, if I (or anyone) am looking to make a point...wouldn't it make a lot more sense just to make it?
"That hurts my feelings."
"I miss you and I love you."
"I'm scared."
There! Simple and refreshing, no?
The same is true for that daily platitude: how are you? We all know the obligatory answer, too. "I'm fine." How often, though, do we mean (via a t-shirt one of my dear students and I designed during study hall):
Or in the most dire instances:
We say what we're supposed to say, what we're expected to say, but then we end up feeling alone or as if there's no one who understands. Well, maybe if we articulated our genuine thoughts clearly, we'd cover a lot of ground in our feelings of isolation.
Struck earlier this evening with the urge to write, I flipped open one of my many prompt books to a random page and was met with the challenge of listing my fears and phobias. I filled the pages quickly...once I decided just to tell the truth.
Just writing about what scares me was, well, scary. But once I started writing and doodling, I couldn't stop. I was painfully honest. Sure, pain was mixed in there. But when I was finished? I felt like a truer version of myself. Not a better me, necessarily, but a me who had the dignity to say what I genuinely thought, regardless of the unknown (and potentially terrifying) outcome. We're guaranteed few things in life, time and tomorrows least of all. So we can continue to be "fine", or we can start to be authentic.
I'm going to try to stop waiting. And...for what it's worth...? You out there, whoever decided to take the time to read what I really had to say: Thank you, and I love you. ❤️
