The Courage to Be: Returning to Ourselves in a World of Expectations


There is a discomfort in being one’s self.
We often speak of authenticity as if it were easy — even effortless.
But the truth is, it can feel deeply unsettling.
There is vulnerability in dropping the masks.
A kind of spiritual nakedness in standing before the world —
and before ourselves — just as we are.

And yet, that discomfort is sacred.
It tells us we are approaching something real.
Something honest.
We have been trained, from early on,
to manage perceptions and perform acceptability.
To speak right, look right, behave right —
until even love felt conditional on our ability to meet expectations.

But what if our deepest peace
lies not in agreement with others,
but in alignment with who we were created to be?

There’s a fear, isn’t there?
A fear of not being liked.
A fear that this “me” — the unguarded self —
might not be accepted.
We live in a world that, despite all its talk of freedom,
still whispers the old command: conform.

It began early —
uniforms, rules, sameness.
No one was meant to stand out.
And now, even with our apparent freedom,
there is a new pressure:
social media,
with its unspoken rules of how we should appear,
how we must present ourselves.

We have been shamed into sameness.
Beaten back into silence.
So we become afraid —
petrified —
to be ourselves,
unless “being ourselves” still looks like everybody else.

But the truth is:
we are each a manifestation of the Divine.
Just as the rock, the tree, the river, the star
reveals Source —
so do we.
And when we conform,
we conceal that divine expression.
We deny the world the gift that only we can offer.

But this is not just a question of identity.
It is a question of trust.

Can I trust that who I am — as I am — is enough?
Can I trust that Source is not hidden behind doctrines or permissions,
but is present — direct — within me?

We carry beliefs deep within us.
Not all of them religious,
but powerful nonetheless.
Beliefs we inherited from school, family, community.
Some of them protected us.
Many of them still limit us.

We try to be true to those beliefs,
but they often don’t fit.
We sense a dissonance —
a quiet ache —
and sometimes we don’t know why.
Only that something inside us feels out of place.

Here is the invitation:
Return.
Return to home base.
To the place within that existed before the shaping.
To the one who has always been there —
quiet, waiting.

Look beyond the systems and authorities we’ve placed above ourselves.
Look past the voices that told us we had to earn our worthiness.
Raise your eyes — slowly, gently —
and connect again
with Source.

Directly.
Unfiltered.
Undiluted.
Uncorrupted.

That connection is yours.
Always was.
Always will be.

As the Desiderata reminds us:
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here.

Whether or not it is clear to you,
the universe is unfolding as it should.
And you —
you are part of that unfolding.

So show up.
Little by little.
Day by day.
Step by step.

And let us see you —
in all your glory.

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