There is an unspoken way in which our society dulls our inner light – not directly, but through layers of discouragement and complacency, comparison and doubt. It is somehow instilled in many people that the freedom to rejoice in your own light is somehow unjust, selfish, or finite. This is wrong. Not only are humans supposed to stoke their own flames, but ought to help others light their paths as well.
What I have learned after many years of consistent self-suppression due to many layers of unconscious fears, negative beliefs, and insecurities, is that deep beneath the fear of shining and risking looking bad is the fear of shining and being too beautiful. This truth is all of ours: that when we truly shine, we are true beauty. It is exactly for our free, god-honest, untamed, 100% heart-authentic expression that the word beauty was created – yet we have been unconsciously taught by reality as we perceive it to not know this worth as ours. And so we play it safe, trying to affirm our place in this world through not shining in our full brightness, so that others will not see our light. The innocence of this is that this comes from a place of love. One does not want to disrupt the familiar.
And yet the world is in dire need of a disruption from the mundane state of being. We are not meant to be here to have our light dulled by the years, by the schools, by the parents, by the peers, by the culture, by the fears. We are here to SHINE! We have nothing to offer this world, if we cannot offer ourselves the most basic allowance to be that which we are. To do what feels good for us, what makes us feel beautiful or alive, and allow ourselves to be honest with it. To be all the way there, which means being seen and heard for it.
Many times, it is possible that we may seek to appear flashy as a compensation for not yet fully accepting our inherent inner worth, and yet, there also comes a point where full acceptance of oneself is incomplete without expression.Yet when we are shamelessly shining in our true beauty we give others the gift of sensing that light and knowing it is safe for them to shine as well.
A common Buddhist analogy encourages us to stoke our own flames while also lighting those of another. As one candle lights the next, its own flame remains; happiness, brightness, passion, and kindness are not mutually exclusive with those around you. The power of a single flame can extend into infinity. Like the candle, shining our light means we are never taking away from anyone else’s light, but rather enlightening all we touch, serving to come together as a greater common force.
“If you light a lamp for someone else, it will also brighten your path.” - Buddha
If you ever look at me and see me shine, know I am only reflecting your light as an invitation for you to be what we all are here to be. There is an unspoken, assumed false code of conduct that suggests that we are here to keep our true light to ourselves, to play small in this world, to light only our own path. Yet the only way we can serve a world that seems dark is through shining our own light upon it, or shining light for others that results in our own path or flame becoming brighter.
A friend of mine said,
"When you shine you indicate that feeling good about yourself is ok, and this gives others permission to feel good about themselves in your presence."
This is what we all need. To know that it’s ok to feel good. That we are worthy, and that we are allowed. That it’s not only okay, but encouraged to share our light with others. Too often do we cover up ourselves, thinking we are doing ourselves and the world a favor. The time has come to turn on, and come out of hiding. I’m calling on you to let yourself shine as you never have before. Blind us if you have to - but never dim your light to compromise for the collective. Doing so is an injustice to the worthy light within all, only awaiting the spark to inspire its return to its true radiant state of being.
