NO MORE HIDING

No more holding my breath
overthinking every step. 
No more spending whole days 
holding back, 
wondering what they will say. 

Something new is stirring inside of me. 
And this is where 
I take the leap. 

I'm kind of afraid,
but here I go anyway. 
I let the Light in. 
No more hiding. 

I will open up the door 
and let the sun sweep the floor. 

Shadows broken,
I'm broken open.

No more hiding away:
It's time to be seen by the Light. 
It's time to grow wild in the Light. 

One of the hardest things in life is to allow yourself to be seen. It's hard to be vulnerable and share your true emotions and say the things that your heart has been longing to say. Whether you're sharing publicly or even opening up to a friend or family member - perhaps you have felt that feeling of your heart racing, as you finally get the courage to say what you've been trying to say for so long. 

Maybe you have felt a lump in your throat, before you gave the speech. Or before you said, “I love you.” Perhaps it's hard to press publish, because the inner critic is so loud in your mind, to the point that you fear the other critics that will join in it mocking you, making fun of you, making you think less of yourself. 

You wonder who might scroll through social media and misunderstand or judge something that you've shared. There are 1 million reasons to stay in the shadows. But there is a reason to come into the Light. 

When you choose to step forth, whatever that looks like in your life, you are giving someone else courage to do the same. When you say I love you, you open up the door for that other person to be honest about their feelings. And even if that answer is not what you want it to be, at least now you know the truth. At least now the truth isn't hiding behind nuances, and being afraid to speak openly and honestly. 

Stepping into the Light is a hard place to be. And at the same time, when you see the sunflower bend its back so that its natural internal rhythms can follow the sun, you will be reminded that being in the Light is necessary for growth. 

One of my favorite movie scenes of all time actually comes from the Pixar film Toy Story 4. There's a moment when the character Bo Peep is encouraging another character to literally step into the Light. And what she says to the character is to step out of the shadows and into the light - but not too much. And what I love about that line is that she gave permission for this character to step forward, but in a way that they were able to in that moment, because they were coming from a place of having been broken. They were coming from a place of being afraid to put themselves out there again because they had been hurt. 

So this is where grace comes in. You are allowed to inch into the Light. If you have been thinking about sharing your story, you don't have to start with everything that has ever happened in your life since childhood. You can share about your newfound love of iPhone photography and how you have been learning to use what you have to create something beautiful. You can talk about the different recipes that you're trying and how you're enjoying working with these ingredients and learning about them. 

I think a lot of times when we think about telling our story and coming into the light and not hiding in the shadows, we think that we have to immediately jump into the deep end. We forget that we are allowed to dip our toes in the shallow end. We forget that before we rode a bike with two wheels, we had two extra wheels on the side to train us and prepare us to balance ourselves. So wherever it is in your life that you have been afraid or hesitant or reluctant or doubtful about saying what you've been wanting to say or about stepping forward with courage, take heart. Breathe deep and remember that this takes time. It takes a lifetime and that is absolutely okay. What matters is that you remember: you are not meant to hide away. Open up the door, let the sunlight sweep the floor, and let Light find you, again and again and again.

Word of the Day: Refresh (v): give new strength or energy to; reinvigorate (Oxford Languages)
Journal: Where do you see light breaking into your life right now? 
Affirmation: I will step forward in the things to come with courage, knowing the light will find me.

More in this week's series called "Come Into The Light", only with a subscription in the Storyteller App.

Sincerely,
Morgan Harper Nichols
@thestorytellerco
@morganharpernichols