"Find a quote that inspires you (either positively or negatively) and free write about it for 15 minutes".
As soon as I saw this challenge, I thought Marianne Williamson because I just love her! I have gotten so much out of listening to her cds and reading her books. So I decided to choose this quote -
As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence actually liberates others.
Marianne Williamson
sourceThis is similar to another quote that I love from Gandhi -
"Be the change you wish to see in the world"
sourceor at least the way I interpret it
I would say there are two parts to this quote that strike me. The first one relates to authenticity. All of my life, I have been told by people that I am "eccentric". That's not really my favorite word, but in essence, I have been told I'm different over and over. Over the years, I have learned that in order to fit in, I need to "hide" certain aspects of my personality. I like to say that I'm a "worldly girl" in a southern girl's body. I'm interested in things that others aren't as much - but as I continue to re-evaluate everything I've ever been taught & everything I know, the more comfortable I am with the fact that maybe I don't fit in all the time and that's okay. I love how she says that we should "let our light shine". I've found that the more I explore who I am and become comfortable with that, the more that 1) I find people that are similar to me in thought and 2) the more that the people I thought were not similar to me actually were but never really expressed it.
The other piece of that quote is that (for me) I don't have to worry about anyone else in this world. I can sit back and judge everyone else about who they are and what they're doing but in actuality, if I want to change something around me, I need to start with me. Once I can live up to the own ideals I want to create for everyone else, then maybe, through seeing something different in me, people will want to change too. Or maybe not. But it doesn't have anything to do with me. Maybe through being myself, others can sense my own authenticity & maybe they'll choose to take that path as well. Or maybe not. All I have to worry about is me! And I love that!
What's your favorite quote?
Namaste, y'all!
